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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23932759">Holding Out For a Hero</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fangirlovestuff/pseuds/Fangirlovestuff'>Fangirlovestuff</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avenger Reader (Marvel), Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), F/M, Gen, Good Boyfriend Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Reader-Insert, Tags May Change, The Avengers Are Good Bros</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 22:15:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>21,794</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23932759</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fangirlovestuff/pseuds/Fangirlovestuff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>You were normal. You really were! you had a dog named Lola, a job you liked and a good apartment in NYC. But one elevator ride might just change everything...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes &amp; Reader, James "Bucky" Barnes/Original Female Character(s), Natasha Romanov (Marvel) &amp; Reader, Reader &amp; Other(s), Steve Rogers/Original Female Character(s), Steve Rogers/Reader, Tony Stark &amp; Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>66</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey lovely people! the beginning of this is based on a prompt from Pinterest, but the rest is my plot. This is gonna be a multichapter fic, so this chapter is not very focused on the relationship, it’s less steve centric and more setting the scene. I’m planning on making this a bit of a slow burn. Not beta read.<br/>enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The elevator doors opened and you stepped in. It was pretty full, so you made an effort to stand still as to not bump into anyone. There was a man that looked pretty familiar to you, you just couldn't get a good enough look at his face when you entered and he was standing behind you. Obviously turning you head to look at him would be very awkward, so you stayed put and tried to figure it out. No sound was heard except the hum of the elevator, the passengers looking at their phones or simply standing quietly.<br/>
"So, I bet you are wondering why I've gathered you here today."<br/>
That voice! You were sure you know this man, and when you turned around you saw the familiar famous goatee and sunglasses. Before you could register the fact that you were riding an elevator with the Tony Stark, and that he "gathered you here", he leaned forward quickly and pressed the emergency stop button. You got a whiff of his cologne, and you were fangirling so hard. I mean this is Tony stark! The man who saved the universe, the genius playboy billionaire philanthropist, the man you have looked up to ever since he became Iron Man. You couldn't believe your eyes.<br/>
"You all probably know who I am, " he smirked, "and I know who you are, but you don't know each other. It's fine, you will."<br/>
After he observed the stunned silence, he continued talking. "I am here to offer you a once in a lifetime opportunity. To help the Avengers."<br/>
This has got to be a prank, you thought. There was absolutely no way you were chosen to work with the Avengers. Maybe this isn't actually Tony Stark, just someone who looks like him. Or maybe it is him and he was bored and wanted to laugh at some random people. Either way you were sure this couldn't be real, but decided to go with it. What's the harm anyways?<br/>
"So, what is the help the Avengers need from us? I mean, no offence to anyone here, but I personally don't really see what the Avengers would need me for. "<br/>
"If you would've let me finish, you would know by now. Now hush, there isn't much time until they come rescue us" and at that he raised his eyebrow, "from here." Tony, or fake Tony since you still weren't sure, continued.<br/>
"Each of you has something individual they can bring to the team. Trust me, I saw the research on you. Pretty extensive stuff. Your dog by the way," he looked into your eyes, "is very cute." You frowned at him. You didn’t like the idea of someone out there researching you, but you knew the fact that you had a dog could have been deducted from your black pants, who despite your best efforts could still have some dog hair on them. You took comfort in the fact that this person who you were still not sure was Tony Stark could just be observant, and not a stalker.<br/>
"In order to participate, you need to come with me right now. I'm taking you to the compound, where you'll receive your respective missions."<br/>
"What if we don't want to?" one man asked.<br/>
"Then feel free to wait for the rescue team and you'll have a funny story that no one will ever believe. Now come on, we gotta-- "<br/>
"How can we know it's you?" a woman that seemed to be about your age asked, voicing your exact thoughts.<br/>
He simply smiled and pressed his watch, which then turned into an Iron Man glove. "Anyone has more questions or can we go now?"<br/>
Everyone was silent. "Great. Follow my lead." Tony started carving a whole in the floor of the elevator. When he finished<br/>
"Wait, you can't actually expect us to fall down that hole, right?" said the woman from before.<br/>
"People down there will catch you. Come on." He jumped down, the Iron Man suit closing and flying him safely to the ground. We all looked at each other, hesitant.<br/>
"Well, it's not like I have anything better to do." Said one of the men and jumped. There was no crash, so probably a good sign. The woman followed his lead and jumped.<br/>
Fuck it, you thought, and jumped too. You closed your eyes, and after an unnerving few second, you landed in what you presumed was the arms of a tall, built man. Opening your eyes, you looked into his face, intending to thank him, but immediately froze. It was captain America. You willed yourself to say something and not look stupid. You could feel the blush creeping on your face. "Um… thank uhh…" you swallowed, "thank you." He put you down. "Your welcome." He smiled at you and stepped away, getting ready to catch someone else.<br/>
Someone quickly pulled you aside. Black Widow, your mind helpfully supplied once you looked at her face. "Come on, don't want the others to fall on you right?". We stepped away and you had time to observe the scene in front on you. The Winter Soldier and Captain America were catching people who came down falling. Falcon and Tony were catching them in the air, landing them safely. Out of the ten people in the elevator, it seemed that seven were here. You assumed the rest didn't want to come. You turned to Natasha, who was still standing next to you, eyeing you almost suspiciously. "Hey, so I know it's probably a secret or whatever, but-- "<br/>
"Yeah sure, Steve is single. Not a secret." She replied with a smile.<br/>
"What?" you felt the blush returning to your face. "No! that's totally not what I was gonna ask!"<br/>
"But it's what you wanted to." She smirked at you.<br/>
Your mouth opened and then closed. You didn't really have a good answer to that, so you just moved past it, stuffing the information in your brain for later. "What I was going to ask is, can I be told my mission now?"<br/>
"No. The best advice I could give you is to be patient."<br/>
You wanted to argue, but you remembered the woman standing next to you was a trained assassin and quickly gave up the notion and shut your mouth.<br/>
When everyone was safely on the ground, Tony turned to you and asked "Okay, everyone here? That's great. Let's head to the compound."<br/>
You and the others followed their lead. The woman from before fell into step next to you. "Hey, I'm Julia. I guess we're teammates now huh?"<br/>
You chuckled at her and introduced yourself. You talked for the whole walk, which was surprisingly long. Who knew New York had underground tunnels that weren't the subway? Certainly not you.<br/>
You and Julia hit it off right away. You learned she was a Lawyer, which explained what she could bring to the Avengers. The business and PR side of the Avengers was often forgotten because of the whole saving the world stuff, but it still existed. You still had no clue what the heck they wanted you to do. You and Julia chatted some more. At some point she noticed you sending another glance at Steve Rogers, who looked as handsome as ever. "Looks like someone has a crush," she whispered and nudged you, grinning. "What? No I don't!" you quickly denied, your eyes involuntarily darted in his direction to make sure he didn't hear you. "Oh, you know you do! Don't even try to argue about this!". You sighed, defeated. "Look, it's not a crush, I swear! It's just… America's ass has an appeal okay?" You said indigently. Julia laughed quietly at your words. "I get it. I do think Bucky's the hotter super-soldier, but that's a question of taste isn't it?". You nodded at her with a smile, and a minute later you got out of the tunnel in the middle of an abandoned alley.<br/>
"Okay people, listen up. We're gonna go to the tower and from there fly to the compound. Anyone with urgent business in New York can simply stay here. But you will not be a part of this mission."<br/>
The rest of you schedule for the day was cleared, but Lola was home waiting for you. You knew you couldn't leave her alone, and there was no one you could call to take care of her. If you knew that's how your day will go, you would've prepared better.<br/>
"Mr. Stark?" you called hesitantly. "I have a dog, as you know, and I can't leave her alone. Also, I have no clothes other than these and, well, a job. How long do you expect us to stay at the compound?"<br/>
"All that will be taken care of by my team. If you decide to come, I'll tell them to fly Lola right over to the compound." You were too thankful to be annoyed at him pretty much stalking you. "Thanks," you simply said, "I'm coming then."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>an interesting flight was upon you.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hey lovely people! thanks for all the love on the last chapter! it really motivates a writer. I'm thinking this might have about 10 chapters, but they're not all written yet, so we'll see.<br/>italics are for thoughts/dreams.<br/>I felt like there wasn't enough Steve in the last one, but I think this one makes up for it...<br/>enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Two people decided they didn't really want to join, so you were left five newbies and five Avengers – Tony, Natasha, Steve, Bucky and Sam.</p><p>After a short way, you finally entered the tower. You barely registered how modern the interior design was, wanting to get a good look at everything that was going on inside the tower. They herded you all into the elevators, going straight to the roof.</p><p>On the roof, a jet waited for all of you. It was surprisingly comfortable and spacious, and you and Julia sat down next to each other. "The flight is about an hour. Feel free to rest, you'll probably need it." Tony said, taking his seat next to Natasha. Sam had to seat next to one of the men who came with us, but they seemed to get along fine.</p><p>You were pretty overwhelmed with the possibility that was dropped on you, so you told Julia and went to sleep.</p><p><em>You felt his warm lips on your neck, then your jaw, then kissing your mouth fervently. You eagerly returned his kiss, running your hands on his toned arms and abdomen. He pushed you into the bed, and you felt his body on top of yours. You hummed in pleasure as he continued his attack on your mouth, and you tangled your hands in his hair. He began trailing down your body, leaving open mouthed kisses on his way to where he knew you wanted him the most. "Steve</em>,<em>" you moaned at the sensation of his beard between your thighs. You looked down at him and he grinned at you, kissing up your thigh, closer and closer until he was so near your folds you thrust your hips, and his mouth landed on your—</em></p><p>"Hey! You okay there girl?" you opened your eyes and saw Julia's face staring at you, concerned. You stretched your neck and moved in your seat. Your dream left you a little disoriented, and – <em>shit</em> – a lot wet. You came to your senses quickly. "Why did you wake me up?" you asked Julia upon seeing you were still mid-flight.</p><p>"You were tossing and breathing really heavily, I thought you were having a nightmare so I woke you up."</p><p>"I didn't say anything though, right?" you asked, concerned.</p><p>"No, nothing. Why? What was your nightmare about?"</p><p>"I don't really remember, that's why I asked. Anyway, you should probably get some sleep too. I'm gonna rest some more."</p><p>You put your earbuds in and put your playlist on shuffle. You closed your eyes, thanking every god possible you weren't a sleep-talker. You felt kind of bad about lying to Julia, but you just met her, and really, it was a white lie anyway. With a sigh you shifted and leaned back in your sit.</p><p>That's gonna be a problem.</p><p>Julia and Natasha already figured out your crush on Steve. You had to make sure he would never ever find out, because if he did you would probably be kicked off the team. despite still having no idea what exactly they expected you to do, working with the Avengers wasn't something you wanted to miss out on.</p><p>To Natasha and Julia you could belittle your feelings all you wanted, but you couldn't lie about this to yourself. Sure, you weren’t in love with him, but your crush was massive, as you were sure his—<em>nope, not gonna do that.</em> You giggled internally at your own bad joke. You had to admit – Steve Rogers was your dream man. Aside from being a super-hot super soldier, with great ass and abs for days, and a really sexy beard and his strong arms that that looked like they could manhandle you in the best way possible, and a– <em>dammit. Why do I keep coming back to that?</em> To get back on track, you were sure the super-soldier serum had its physical advantages. But over the years, the world, you included, got to know the man better, and honestly? He seemed amazing.</p><p>Steve Rogers will forever be known as the man who, in spite of being a super-enhanced soldier, solved almost all of his arguments in words. Even though he could definitely beat his opponent in a physical fight easily, he chose to put his intelligence and eloquence to the test, and verbally convinced them he was right. He was kind and considerate to every kid or adult that came up to him to express their gratefulness or appreciation to him, always making sure to tell them if they put their mind to it, they could do whatever they wanted. He was an inspiration to an entire generation of kids who were growing up with him as an example. Surprisingly, he learned to manage Twitter, and was constantly tweeting for Lgbtq+ rights, supporting the #BlackLivesMatter movement, or any other good cause he found. He raised money for charity and marched for women's rights. And in addition to all that, he was saving the world one catastrophe at a time.</p><p>So yeah, no one could really blame you for having a crush on Captain America. Hell, probably half the country did too.</p><p>The Avengers did a lot of press as well. Steve got asked tons of questions about Peggy, until one of these times he lost his patience and almost lashed out at the interviewer, who looked scared for her life.</p><p>"Listen here. Peggy is long gone from my life and you never knew her. I think the minimum level of respect you could give her is to not treat her as a love interest." His eyes blazing, he continued, "So if you have questions about Peggy as a person, go ask her family and leave me out of it." He stormed away from the interview.</p><p>Later that month an interview went out with the same interviewer.</p><p>"I wanna start by apologizing for the last time we met, you were just the hundredth person to ask me that question so I kinda lost it and I'm sorry." Steve apologized.</p><p>"No problem." She smiled at him<em>. Sure, hot blonde interviewer. We all know he's hot when he's angry,</em> you thought amusedly.</p><p>"It's just that, I really do miss her. She was a remarkable woman, and she achieved so much in her life when I wasn't around, so it bugs me to see her treated like my "love interest" in the media, and not acknowledging her accomplishments really sucks." Steve explained. "I will say though, ever since then no one asks me this kind of questions anymore." He chuckled, "So you did do me a great favor." He smiled at the interviewer.</p><p>They continued the interview, talking about Steve's new charity project "All in Challenge", about the Avengers and whatnot.</p><p>You shook out of your reverie. In the time you took to have this entire inner monologue, you noticed you were preparing for landing. You resolved to forget your crush on Steve. No matter how wonderful or single he was, you couldn't risk this opportunity. You had to keep it professional.</p><p>You landed quickly after that, getting off the plane and stretching your limbs. Tony signaled to come after him, so you followed. He led the way to the compound, where you entered and <em>Wow it's so awesome in here!</em> You couldn't wait to see everything, but before you could start asking questions Tony started talking.</p><p>"Hope you had an okay flight. Now you'll be led to your rooms. You can take a shower or something. There are some clothes already there for you. In exactly," Tony looked at his watch, "30 minutes someone will come pick you up and give you your missions, explain how is this gonna go and answer whatever questions you have as long as you don't annoy them too much. Dismissed."</p><p>Natasha approached Julia and you. "follow me, your rooms are pretty close to each other."</p><p>You took the elevator silently, without any floor cutting lasers this time.</p><p>She led you through multiple corridors and stopped in front of a door. "This one is Julia's." Julia went in after hurriedly exchanging your phone numbers.</p><p>You and Natasha walked another minute and then got to your room. "Here you go. This one is yours." She smiled at you. "Thanks." You smiled back and entered.</p><p>The room was fairly big, and the soft-looking queen size bed caught your eye immediately. It had a set of neatly folded clothes on it. You sighed, knowing you needed to shower and also wouldn't be able to sleep because you slept on the plane.</p><p>You got in the shower, enjoying the feeling of the warm water on your skin. You really wanted to sing in the shower as you usually do, but you didn't know how soundproof the walls in here were. <em>Well, gotta kick that habit</em>, you thought.</p><p>You got out of the shower, drying off and putting on the clothes that were on the bed. They fit you quite well and were comfortable. You checked your phone- no new messages from Julia. <em>Guess she's still in the shower.</em></p><p>There was a knock at the door. You opened it, expecting to see a serious S.H.I.E.L.D agent. Instead, you found yourself staring into Natasha's blue eyes. It was a very pleasant surprise.</p><p>"Come on. You're getting your mission from me."</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you enjoyed! kudos and comments truly make my day.<br/>come talk to me on my Tumblr until the next one goes up! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/fangirlovestuff</p><p>Also, All in Challenge is an actual project to help provide food for people who need it in these hard times, so donate if you can!<br/>https://www.fanatics.com/all-in-challenge/x-12589906+z-9713580-3838082054<br/>Heres Chris Evans' awesome entry:<br/>https://www.fanatics.com/giftcards/virtual-hangout-with-chris-evans-and-five-of-his-super-close-friends/o-32270109+p-9276001395646+z-9-3629237344?_ref=p-SRP:m-GRID:i-r0c0:po-0</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"Your mission-- "<br/>"Should I choose to accept it", you added humorously. You were fidgeting on the edge of your seat. "Don't interrupt me." She deadpanned and continued.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey lovely people! stay safe and enjoy this one!<br/>italics are as always for thoughts/dreams.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>You followed her silently. If they wanted to give you a spy mission, they would be disappointed. You knew you had no spy qualities whatsoever, so surely they did as well. Heck, you were a psych major. You entertained the possibility they wanted you to be the team shrink. <em>Imagine that,</em> you nearly snorted out loud at that mental image.</p><p>You entered a small room. Looked like it was some sort of a conference room.</p><p>"Sit."</p><p>You sat down, Natasha taking the seat opposite you. "Let's cut to the chase. Do you know why you're here?" You shook your head no. "Seriously? No idea?" You gave her an exasperated look. "Okay."</p><p>She opened a file that was resting on the table. "We can skip over the boring details- name, age, blah blah… ah, here it is. Your mission-- "</p><p>"Should I choose to accept it", you added humorously. You were fidgeting on the edge of your seat. "Don't interrupt me." She deadpanned and continued. "Your mission is Risk Assessment. Don't," she held her hand up, "questions when I'm finished."</p><p>"It means they found you capable of analyzing people, making sure how dangerous they really are, to us or to themselves. Sure, if they are openly holding a weapon it's not hard to tell, but some people like mind games, and they weaponize them. Others are just mentally disturbed. We've had a couple of run-ins with people like that lately, which I'm guessing is why they hired you. As a psych student who has good instincts, you should be able to identify such people and notify your team, which is us, before the threat blows up, figuratively but also could be literally. You'll come with us on missions where we think it's useful to have someone like you, so you'll need to at least be able to hold your own until we can swoop in and save you, so you will train for that. Risk Assessment is pretty risky itself. I'm actually pretty surprised they gave that to a newbie. You must be good then," she smiled and gave you a moment to digest all of the new information.</p><p>You sat in silence. After a few moments, Natasha broke it. "Questions?"</p><p>You knew she was probably expecting some professional questions about the job. You had those too, but you couldn't help but ask "Why me? I mean, I'm grateful to work with you guys, don't get me wrong, but aren't there people who would be better at this than me? People with PhDs maybe?"</p><p>"Maybe. Look, I'm not in charge of the HR department. But I do know if they chose you they had a good reason. Not anyone can work with the Avengers, "she explained. "Some are shady and could potentially leak information, some have a very strong potential leverage against us, like a bad past or big family that lives with them. Some just probably wouldn't get along with the team dynamic. Your family lives away, you don't have a criminal past, and when you quit your job no one will know where you are." At that your head snapped up at her, staring with wide eyes. "Oh it’s fine, the Avengers pay great. And you didn't really think you could keep working when you're an Avenger, did you? Being secretive is in the job description." She showed you the file, pointing to a clause that said something about "concealing information from civilian associates". You nodded at her, satisfied with the explanation. "And you seem like you'll get along with the rest of us just fine." She smiled at you, warm and assuring. <em>You almost forget she was a trained assassin</em>, you mused. "If they picked you, it means you're the best person for the job. More questions?"</p><p>"Yes. So I'm gonna live at the compound now? What about the others - will they? How often will I go on missions? And when is my dog gonna be here?"</p><p>"Okay, relax. One question at a time. Because you are going on missions with us you'll have to train and prep for that, so your job is pretty much full time, which also means you'll have to quit your current job. In regards to your question, while we can't force you to live here, it is very recommended. It's a long commute from your apartment to here," she smirked, "also, this the safest place for you to be. The same goes for the others. You have a choice."</p><p>You thought it over a couple of moments. It really was the safest place for you to be, so you felt like you should take the offer. <em>Also, you might get a glance at Steve walking around shirtless</em>, supplied the annoying part of your brain. <em>Shut up</em>, said the rational part of your brain. To Natasha you said "okay, I'll probably live here. What about my other questions?"</p><p>"The frequency of your missions depends mainly on you, and a bit on us as your team. As much as we would like that not to be the case, there are still bad guys in the world. Probably always will be. As an Avenger, your duty id to catch as many as them as you can, before they hurt anyone. So as long as you're in the physical and mental state to go on a mission and we need you, you'll be expected to come with us."</p><p>"Yeah, that sounds fair. What about my dog? And now that I'm going to live here, my clothes and stuff?"</p><p>"Your dog should be here by the end of the day." She smiled at your palpable relief and continued, "When I notify Tony you'll be staying here, he'll send for your stuff, so they should be here in a day or two. In the meantime, we can supply you with anything you need, just ask. Anything else?"</p><p>"that's it for now, thank you. If I have more questions who should I ask?"</p><p>"Anyone of us is fine. You can ask Jarvis where we are, or just ask him actually. And one last thing – you can talk to your teammates about your mission, but not to anyone else, and preferably not out of the compound. It's pretty obvious but still really important."</p><p>You nodded, "Yes, of course. Thank you." You smiled at her.</p><p>You walked back to the elevators. You were feeling a bit hungry, so you asked Natasha where you could get some food. "The common floor has a kitchen." "Thanks."</p><p>You exited the elevator into the common floor. Seemed like your teammates had the same idea as you, seeing as they were sitting on the sofas in the room, some open snacks being passed between them. You did a quick headcount to find that everyone was here. Including yourself, you newbies were three women and two men. The men seemed fine, and the woman you didn't know yet looked beautiful.</p><p>"Hey!" Julia noticed you standing and called you over. "Come here! How was it? Who briefed you?"</p><p>"first of all, can I have some of that?" you sat down next to Julia and pointed to the bag of chips she was holding. She handed them to you, looking at you expectantly.</p><p>"I think it went okay. Natasha briefed me. I'm doing Risk Assessment." You explained your job and they all listened. "What about you guys? Honestly, I still don't even know your names, so tell me about you all."</p><p>The guy who sat next to Sam on the plane introduced himself as Michael, "but call me Mike," he added. He said he was going to work in Research &amp; Development, as he had a knack for tech, and that Sam briefed him. "Sam told me he didn't really understand all the tech-y words in my file, so he just let me read the part myself," Mike laughed. "He seems like a great guy."</p><p>The other guy introduced himself as Oliver. He said Rhodey briefed him, and that he was working as a mechanic. He seemed like a quiet guy, and didn't add anything else.</p><p>The pretty woman turned out to be Isabelle. She said she was one of the few people that survived a set on illegal experiments to study the affects of the super-soldier serum. "I'm probably not as strong as Captain America or the Winter Soldier, but I can hold my own in a fight. I'm going to go on missions with the Avengers!" She laughed disbelievingly. She said Bucky briefed her, and that he was sweet as sympathized with her about was she'd been through.</p><p>Julia said she was indeed going to work on the law side of the Avengers. You were happy for her, because it seemed she was very good at what she did and it wasn't a dangerous job. Pepper briefed her, and she said Pepper was truly a great woman and enjoyed talking to her a lot. "I'm sure if I get her to be friends with me, she'll totally dish about the Avengers. Or maybe even if we're not friends, she seems really frustrated with them." We all laughed at that.</p><p>"Hello," said a mechanical British voice. "I'm Jarvis. It's great to meet you all. For your information, dinner will be served soon, so you might want to head to the first floor."</p><p>"Thank you!" you all said in unison. "It will definitely take me some time to get used to that," Isabelle laughed and you agreed.</p><p>You all made your way to the first floor, to have your first meal as official Avengers.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Maybe kudo or comment? tell me what else you wanna see in this fic!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"Ah, wonderful! Well, tell me then, who is your favorite Avenger?" Thor probably had a bit too much Asgardian liquor that evening, because he said it way too loudly. So loudly in fact, that the whole table silenced, waiting to hear what you answered.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey lovely people! Thanks for all the love!<br/>May the 4th be with you!<br/>italics are for thoughts.<br/>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When you arrived, you saw the Avengers sitting at the table, with vacant seats for the five of you scattered between them. You sat down between Natasha and Thor. Except from Thor and the others you had already met, you saw Scarlet Witch, Rhodey, and Bruce Banner. Tony sat at the head of the table, and when you all took your seats he stood up.</p><p>"I would like to propose a toast to the newest members of the Avengers. You guys may not know this, but selecting you all and bringing you here was a long challenging project, so I, for one, am very glad that's over with. To the Avengers!"</p><p>"To the Avengers!" we all toasted and drank. From the corner of your eye you saw Julia was sitting next to Bucky, glaring daggers at the seemingly oblivious Isabelle who sat on his other side. You hid a smile behind your glass. <em>So she had a bit of a crush as well… that's good to know.</em></p><p>You tuned into the conversation to your left, where Thor was arguing with Tony about something.</p><p>"Stark, listen. You can't create something like that from your little earth metals."</p><p>"First of all, don't tell me what to do. You're not the boss of me. Actually, I'm the boss of you, which is why you could show me some respect and cooperate with me on this one. So say I really can't make something like that from earth metals, could you bring me some other metals to work with. We'll call it even and I'll forget you ever disrespected me."</p><p>"Bringing you those metals is way better than some insult I threw at you Tony, and you know that. Tell you what, if you actually tell me what weapon you want to build for yourself, I might just get you those metals."</p><p>Tony scooted closer to him, whispering something if Thor's ear you couldn't decipher. "But you gotta keep it a secret, big guy. Otherwise it won't be a surprise."</p><p>Thor shifted his gaze across the table and back to Tony. You couldn't realize who he looked at. "Fine. I agree that's a noble enough cause. I'll get those metals for you."</p><p>He turned to you, smiling, and you hastily turned your head to your palate and pretended to look focused on your food. "What's your name young woman?"</p><p>You introduced yourself, explaining your job and that you'll be joining their missions soon. "I'm actually familiar with all of you guys like the rest of the world, so I already know who you are." You said bashfully.</p><p>"Ah, wonderful! Well, tell me then, who is your favorite Avenger?" Thor probably had a bit too much Asgardian liquor that evening, because he said it way too loudly. So loudly in fact, that the whole table silenced, waiting to hear what you answered.</p><p>Your thoughts were racing. If you told the truth and said Captain America, you might just end up ranting about how much you actually like Cap. You were prone to do that. But that was out of the question, you had to keep it professional. You could lie and say Thor, but then the entire table would hear, and you didn't feel like you had the right to play favorites when you don’t really know them all yet. You had to improvise, fast.</p><p>"Ummm… I don't have a favorite. I like all of you." You answered, satisfied with the answer you came up with.</p><p>"Oh come on, you're no fun. I know it's me," he winked at you. "But have it your way."</p><p>"Maybe if we got her some more champagne she'll spill it." Natasha said from your other side.</p><p>"That's a wonderful idea," agreed Tony. "I'll go and bring some more."</p><p>You got into a comfortable chat with Natasha, talking about nothing in particular.</p><p>"So, since I know who your favorite Avenger, why don't you go talk to him?" she smiled cheekily. Before you could persuade her not to, she called "Steve! Come over here! We haven't heard from you all night!". You glanced in Steve's direction. He laughed and brought his chair to sit next to you. "What's up Nat?"</p><p>"Oh, nothing much. Just thought you should try to mix more with the young crowd old man."</p><p>Steve apparently didn't have any Asgardian liquor that night. He seemed entirely sober and smiled at Natasha "Ha ha. Very funny." He turned to you. "You're the one that's doing risk assessment right?" you nodded. "Steve," he said with a smile and reached out for your hand. "Like I don't know who you are," you chuckled and shook his hand. To say sparks had been flying when your hands touched was probably an exaggeration, but you felt your cheeks heating up. Luckily, you managed to keep your cool. "You know they have aa exhibit of your life at the Smithsonian, right? They do school trips over there." He laughed, teasing you back "And I assume you're still in school in order to enjoy them?" "You've read my file so you know I'm not." You smiled at him. "Good point," he said, his blue eyes gazing into yours. You wouldn't admit this, but this definitely made you go a little weak at the knees. "Actually, a few years ago I stole my uniform from there. Needed something to wear that wasn't associated with S.H.I.E.L.D, that was really HYDRA at the time."</p><p>"That reminds me, what happened to Sharon? Weren't you and her getting closer at the time?"</p><p>"Guess we were, but I haven't spoken to her in years. She's still in S.H.I.E.L.D I guess." Steve said. Natasha snuck you a smug look, her point proven once again. "That reminds me," Steve smiled, "Nat, do you remember the time we escaped from the HYDRA agents at the mall? I guess that's not a publicly known story." He smirked at you. They told you the story, and you laughed pretty muck the whole time. "You see, she just wanted an excuse to kiss me." He smiled smugly at Natasha. "I certainly did not! It was a terrible kiss and I totally saved your ass back there." Natasha laughed. "Whatever you say," Steve smiled. The conversation between the three of you was flowing and fun, with them reminiscing on more missions and you telling them about yourself and where you came from. After a while, Natasha excused herself to go to the bathroom. You knew she did it just to give you and Steve "alone time", and any other time you'd be pissed at her, but you had a little champagne in you so you didn't care. <em>You can do this</em>, you thought, <em>you can totally have a normal conversation with Steve Rogers</em>.</p><p>"So," you sipped your drink, "I heard a lot about Captain America tonight. What can you tell me about Steve Rogers?" you smiled at him. He looked surprised, and you were beginning to think you did something wrong, but then he smiled softly at you. "That depends. What do you wanna hear?" "Well, I always wondered what it's like living in the 40's. my grandpa was like 2 years old back then so he can't tell me." you smirked. He chuckled and proceeded to tell you about his life in the war, about Bucky and his' friendship. At one point you saw Natasha coming back but going to sit at a different spot at the table.<em> Traitor. </em></p><p>Your conversation with Steve was incredibly interesting. You talked about life and politics, "I have beef with the electoral college," he said, frowning. You couldn't keep the smile off of your face, "I see you're really getting used to the slang nowadays." You both laughed.</p><p>After a few hours of the dinner it started wrapping up.</p><p>"Okay guys, I think that's enough for today," Tony said, getting out of his chair. "You newbies have training tomorrow, so good luck with that. Oh, and Steve, Bucky, you're on dish duty today. Everybody else, have a good night."</p><p>Steve flashed you a smile, "Goodnight." he said, and he and Bucky got up to take the dishes. You made your way to Julia, so you can walk to your rooms together.</p><p>"Saw you getting friendly with Steve," Julia said in a suggestive voice. "Yeah," you said, innocently, "aren't teammates supposed to be?" Julia laughed. "What about you though?" you said with a smirk. "I saw you shooting Isabelle some pretty dirty looks tonight when she was talking to your man." Julia swatted your arm playfully. "Bucky isn't my man. Yet." She added as an afterthought. "Who said it was Bucky?" you grinned. "Come on!" Julia laughed.</p><p>You got to your room. When you opened the door you were attacked by a large furry dog and her loving tongue. "Lola!" you laughed. "I know, I missed you so much too." You petted her affectionately. You opened the closet door and found some pjs to put on. You snuggled under the covers, Lola at your feet, and went to sleep.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Did you catch the Chris Evans reference I snuck in there ;) ?<br/>Hope you enjoyed! I know this one was a bit on the short end, but I'm gonna get the next one up tomorrow to make up for it!<br/>Kudo or comment? it makes my day!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"Ready to train?"<br/>"As ready as I can be," you replied.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey lovely people! hope everyone's doing okay. Get a drink! Stretch a little!<br/>By the way, I wasn't kidding about the slowburn... but we're getting there soon :)<br/>Enjoy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>You woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. You went about your regular morning routine and put on some comfortable clothes, but you had no idea what to do next.</p><p>"Jarvis," you called into the air. "Yes?" answered the A.I. "Where could I get some breakfast?" you asked, deciding that's what you should do first. "You could go down to the kitchen on the first floor and make some. Also, your presence has been requested by Miss Romanoff in training room 5 on the second floor in an hour." "Thank you Jarvis!" you said brightly and made your way to the kitchen. No one was there, probably either sleeping or going about their day elsewhere. You made a light breakfast and ate it quickly. You went on your phone for a while, checking your Instagram and Twitter. Nothing exciting. You got a message from your mom asking if you could come over to your cousin's baby shower. You wanted to come, but you should ask someone if you could first. You shot your mom saying you may need to work on the weekend but you'll try to come.</p><p>You got up and went to find the training room. You located it easily. When you got there, you found Natasha sitting there and waiting for you. But more distractingly, Steve was on the other side of the room, punching a punching bag, his hair sweaty and his shirt clinging to his body. <em>He looks so hot</em>. Your brain short-circuited for a moment but then you regained your composure and went to greet Natasha, who was smirking at you knowingly.</p><p>"Ready to train?"</p><p>"As ready as I can be," you replied. She got up, and you got into a protective stance you remembered from some movie, probably. "Okay, no. That is not right." She corrected you, getting your fists in their proper place, widening your legs a bit. "That's better. Now, try to punch me. Give me the best you got so I can see at what level are you." She held up her hand for you to punch, seemingly relaxed and loose. You hesitated. Steve was still in the room, and despite your decision not to act on your crush, you still didn't want to embarrass yourself in front of him. Natasha raised her brow expectantly, and you knew you didn't really have a choice. You gave it all you got, but you knew it wasn't much. At least you managed to hit her hand, but she wasn't in the least bothered. She gave you some notes about your technic, "Try again." You repeated the process a few times, until finally she stopped you. "That was… okay for a beginner." Natasha comforted you. "You'll have to work on your strength some more, but that's mainly it. You did a good job with your technic, you're a fast learner." You smiled at her, pleased that you got a compliment out of her. "Thanks."</p><p>"Okay, on to the next thing. Do you know any other martial arts moves? Any kicks maybe?"</p><p>You shook your head. You grew up in a good neighborhood and an didn't really like violence when you were little, so you never learned any martial arts. Not that as an adult you liked violence, it's just that you were in a few situations in which you were so frustrated you wanted to punch something. Or someone. You shook your head at Natasha. "That's fine, we knew we needed to start from the very beginning with you." You spent the next hour learning some kicks and practicing them. "That was great progress." Natasha said.</p><p>"Because this is your first day here, you're gonna need to pass some physical evaluations." Natasha sent you a sympathetic look. "Don’t worry about doing well at them, just try your best. Generally everyone who comes to live here improves their fitness pretty quickly. We all work out a lot, as Rocky here is demonstrating," she huffed at Steve, who was doing push-ups now, giving you a delightful view of his arms. It seemed so effortless when he did it.</p><p>"I understood that reference!" Steve exclaimed from across the room. "And it's not even really an insult," he smirked at Nat. "Super-soldier hearing," he said to you, and continued his workout. Natasha rolled her eyes at him. "Come on, let's get out of here before he starts bragging some more." Steve chuckled, but didn’t reply anything else.</p><p>Outside, you followed Natasha to a running track. You stretched a little. "Okay, you ready?" Natasha asked, and you nodded at her. "You're gonna run the entire track and I'll time you. Ready? Go!" You ran as fast as you could, and finished breathlessly. "1:23. Not bad but you could do better." You looked at her disbelievingly, still breathing heavily. "Let's move on," Natasha suggested.</p><p>She tested you on some other stuff- sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, the whole ordeal. In those you did better than the running. <em>You live in New York, there isn't really a whole lot of place for running</em>, is what you constantly told yourself. In reality, you just didn’t like it. But you had a decent enough strength. "I think that's about it for today," Natasha said, adding "You did good." And helping you get up from the ground where you were previously doing sit-ups. "Let's go get some lunch."</p><p> Over the next few weeks, you trained pretty much every day. You got to know your teammates better, with some more shared dinners and workout sessions as Natasha promised. Keeping your eyes off of Steve was proving to be challenging more and more each time, so you tried to avoid training with him as much as possible. But you two had actually became good friends, always having something common to talk about and sharing a similar sense of humor. Steve was absolutely in love with Lola from the moment he met her. "I really love dogs," he told her one time, "because they have the ability to care and be cared for as much as a human, but without the bad human qualities. Dogs are a 100% love." Lola came up to him, nudging his arm with her head as if requesting him to pet her, and he gladly obliged. "Yes, Lola, You're the sweetest of them all," he cooed at her "such a princess." You laughed at him, "What is the world gonna say when they find out Captain America has a soft spot for dogs?" you teased. "Agree with him, because dogs are the best." He retorted, continuing to pet Lola.</p><p>You got closer with Isabelle too, seeing as you were the two newbies who trained the most. One time you saw her coming to the training room with Bucky, and hugging him before getting in. You thought of Julia, who was Jules to you now, and how if something was happening, you should probably give her a heads up. You went up to Isabelle, asking friendly "So, you and Bucky… is that a thing now?" She looked at you and laughed. "Me and Bucky? God no! I'm a lesbian!" you were shocked by the sudden confession, but laughed along with her. "Oh my god, now I'm so embarrassed I asked you that!" "It's okay, really. Bucky and I are just friends, and he also knows I like girls." You were secretly relived, because it meant Jules could have her chance.</p><p>You got better every day. You continued to put effort into your training and it paid off.</p><p>A month after you first came to the compound, you got your first mission. It was a warm May morning, and Tony called you to have a chat and breakfast with him in his private floor. Despite your crush on Steve, you still appreciated and fangirled over Tony a lot. He was brilliant, and a good man.</p><p>Once you entered, Tony didn't waste any time. "So, good morning honey. Let's just cut to the chase. Sit down, please." He gestured to a chair in front of him. You sat and he continued. "As a team, we've been observing your improvement over the last month. And we think you're ready for a mission. Are you?"</p><p>You felt your breath quicken. You pushed the going on missions part out of your head for the last month. You didn't wanna screw this up, but you knew you wouldn't get readier than what you were. You trained intensively, and all you needed to get better was experience.</p><p>"Yes."</p><p>"Great," Tony handed you a file. "This is the mission. In entails our general goal but also the part you'll need to play in it, which is more important at the moment."</p><p>"Okay. When is it?"</p><p>"Next week. Don't worry, it'll be fine. We'll be there to protect you. We're a team." He nodded at you reassuringly. You smiled back at him in gratitude and left.</p><p>Apart from the nervous part of your brain, you were also incredibly excited to go on your first mission. Isabelle had already been on a couple, and had exciting stories to tell from them. You wanted it too – after all, that's what you were here for. You couldn't wait to tell Jules.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you enjoyed!<br/>Love that my Steve is clearly very inspired by Chris lol<br/>On another note, three days in a row is a lot to post, so the next ones might take a little more time, but I am really inspired, so I don't think it will be too long!<br/>I crave validation so please kudo and comment!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"Listen up people," Tony shouted to the group. "You all know the plan – get in, get one of them to tell us who they've been talking too or find another way to get that information, arrest them with the help of local police who will barge in when we tell them to. Easy, Simple. Oh, and keep this one out of harm's way will ya?" he pointed at you, "We don't want her getting hurt," he winked at you. "Let's go!"</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey lovely people! So... this didn't really take that long I guess. Told you I was inspired :)<br/>this chapter comes with a slight warning: mentions of blood and psychological instability (Your character isn't psychologically disturbed, so don't worry about that). It's nothing too graphic or disturbing, but better safe than sorry! Also, the characters treat the mental trouble jokingly, which I allowed myself to do ONLY because this is a fictional story. Don't do that in real life!<br/>I probably blew this outta proportions for most of you, but I know it's important to some :)<br/>After all that being said, enjoy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>You went straight to Jules' room and knocked on her door. You heard shuffling behind the door, before hearing Jules' voice telling you to come in. You came in and found her and Bucky sitting on the bed, seemingly in the middle of a conversation before you came in. If you weren't so excited about the mission, you would've noted that you didn’t hear conversation through the door, but right now you couldn't care less.</p><p>"I got my first mission!" you exclaimed triumphantly, and Jules got up to give you an excited hug. "That's great! Be careful though, okay?"</p><p>"Of course," you smiled warmly at her.</p><p>"What's the mission?" Jules asked. "I don't know yet, I didn’t read the file. I came straight away to tell you. But I do know it's next week."</p><p>"It's probably the Martinelli mission," said Bucky, who was still sitting on the bed and smiled at you. "Pretty standard gang activity, except these guys seem to be convinced they possess the power of the gods," he said sarcastically. "The thing is, they're not smart enough to think up something like that on their own, so someone probably convinced them of it. Gang members were a nuisance enough as it is, so we don't really want them having a god complex. We're trying to figure out who put them up to it," Bucky summed. "Thanks," you sent Bucky a smile. "Then I'm really glad I took the mission. It holds a lot of psychological interest for me, you know, professionally speaking," you smiled amusedly. "Or you could just say you want to see these nut-jobs with your own eyes," Jules said. "Yeah, that's it," you chuckled. You bid them goodbye and went to your room to review the mission file.</p><p>Later that evening you ate dinner with Natasha and Steve and told them you were coming along to the mission next week. "That's great! Congrats!" Natasha smiled. Steve looked displeased at the news, but corrected his expression quickly, smiling and congratulating you, unenthusiastically despite his best efforts. You noticed his initial expression, but you thought there must be something else on his kind and that's why he's acting like that.</p><p>The next week was full of preparations and excitement for the mission. Steve kept sulking the whole week, trying unsuccessfully to hide it. You tried asking him what was wrong, but he avoided your questions stubbornly. Despite that, by the time the day came, you felt ready for anything.    </p><p>"Listen up people," Tony shouted to the group. Not everyone was there, of course, as this wasn't a world-ending threat. But you were 6 people- Steve, Bucky, Natasha, Tony, Isabelle and you. "This is a short flight. You all know the plan – get in, get one of them to tell us who they've been talking too or find another way to get that information, arrest them with the help of local police who will barge in when we tell them to. Easy, Simple. Oh, and keep this one out of harm's way will ya?" he pointed at you, "We don't want her getting hurt," he winked at you. "Let's go!"</p><p>You all boarded the Quinjet and it was a quiet flight. Your leg was bouncing uncontrollably, and Natasha shot you a dirty look. "Sorry." Then you couldn't stop fidgeting with your hands. Natasha put her hands on yours and looked you in the eyes. "Look, I know this is stressful for you, but I swear to god if you don't stop moving the mission won't be the reason you're hurt." She raised her brow at you and you nodded and sat silently. "Nat, don’t incapacitate her just because it's your pet peeve." Tony looked over his shoulder at Natasha, and then his gaze turned to you. "And relax, will you? We got your back." The rest of the flight went by uneventfully, and you arrived at the planned time.</p><p>You broke into the warehouse you knew the gang was gonna be in, entering silently. You could hear voices coming from the middle of the warehouse. They continued to where the voices were coming from, while you took the stairwell on your right, gun in hand, in order to get a better vantage point on the gang members. No one was in your way, and you could easily see the whole warehouse from the sort of bridge you were up on. You immediately got to work. At first, none of them seemed like the god complex type. You took a closer look. One of them was wearing a fake designer watch – likes himself more than he should, but not dangerous. The others were more of the same – self-important, rude, but none of them seemed dangerous, until you laid eyes on a man standing on the side watching the men work. "Heads up," you said into the comms, "man in a bright blue shirt at the left side of the room. Seems like one of the dangerous ones. He has something to prove." You looked around the room for more men, and there were two more standing next to each other behind a pile of barrels. "See that pile of barrels? There are two men behind it, looks like they're trouble." After another quick look around the room, you could find no more hostiles. <em>Weird</em>, you thought<em>, the intel we got said the place was swarming with them</em>. You put two and two together. "Guys wait. I only see three hostiles. I looked at everyone. This might be a tr--" before you could complete your sentence, you heard a gunshot behind you and turned quickly. The man missed, but only narrowly. But more importantly, he turned attention to your location. You ducked quickly to avoid being seen by the men from below. The man shooting at you now – he was definitely one of the crazy ones. From the bridge to the floor it was hard to see it, but up close there was no mistaking it. His eyes blazed as he manically shot at you. Luckily for you, that gave you an advantage. You kept your cool and fired a few well-aimed shots, hitting his leg and taking his gun, leaving him there as you turned back the way you came from, "Is everything okay?" you heard Steve through the comms. "Could use a little help up here," you said, as you saw two more men coming towards you, guns in front of them and the same manic look on their face. <em>Shit</em>.</p><p>You fired your gun but they were too far away and you missed. As you were shooting at them, trying to duck and avoid the bullets they sent your way, you tried to understand what made them this way. <em>Anger? Grief? Too simple</em>, you thought. <em>Maybe that but also more</em>, you left it at that and focused on the men in front of you. Tony swooshed in and blasted one of them, while you took over the other one, running the other way because you heard another one coming up the stairs. Steve went up the stairs to help you and found the man, neutralizing him. You stopped running when you realized Steve was behind you. He called you, "We took the men from downstairs for questioning. Come on, we gotta get out of here." You took a couple of steps towards him when you suddenly felt a sharp pain in your calf. You stumbled forward, Steve crossing the distance in record time, catching you in his arms and shooting the guy who was laying on the floor. It was the one you took down first, that you took his gun. But he came to his senses, and <em>apparently</em>, you looked down at your bloody leg, <em>he had a throwing knife. Great</em>.</p><p>Steve lifted you up and took you outside, where a medic took care of your leg. "It's not too bad," he said, "Just make sure you keep the wound clean and don't put too much strain on that leg. You know, just ask someone to carry you around," he laughed, making you laugh as well. "It's not like someone would wanna carry me, so that probably won't happen," you chuckled. "Well, you didn't ask yet," he winked and you rolled your eyes at him.</p><p>Steve came over. "You two done? We need to get to the compound." "Yeah, thank--" you couldn’t even thank the medic before Steve picked you up and carried you to the Quinjet.</p><p>"What was that for?" you frowned at Steve, "Couldn't you let me thank that guy?"</p><p>"He got paid enough," he stated coldly.</p><p>The flight back was quiet, but not the comfortable silence from the previous flight. Everyone seemed to notice the tension that was radiating off of Steve.</p><p>You landed at the compound and got off the jet. Jules was there, hugging you tightly the moment you got off. "I heard what happened, let me see," she said. Her brow furrowed when her eyes landed on the tight bandage. "I'm not really supposed to remove the bandage," you said, smiling at her. "Jules, it's fine, really. It's just a cut, it will heal in no time. I knew things like that could happen when I went on the mission and it could've been worse. I'm just happy it didn’t." Jules looks behind you. "And you mister! Promised me you'd keep her safe!" you turned around to see Bucky coming towards you. "Lovely to see you too," he kissed Julia on her cheek. You raised your eyebrows at Julia and she sent you a look that said I'll tell you later. To Bucky she said "Don't sweet talk me, what happened?"</p><p>"Steve went to help her. You know I'd trust Steve with my life," he put his arms around her. "Fine," she said, "I guess I'm glad you didn’t get hurt as well," she smiled at him. You smiled at the pair and vowed to make Julia spill it later. Right now, you just wanted to get some rest.  </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you enjoyed! What do you think about Jules/Bucky? tell me in the comments!<br/>Why was Steve sulking? Why would he take you away from that poor medic? all that and more coming in the next one!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"Nothing's wrong." You raised your brow at him, folding your arms on your chest. "Look, just leave it alone okay?" he sighed. "No, not okay!" you were really pissed at him.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey lovely people! this one is the angstiest one yet but I promise it's worth it!<br/>As always italics are for thoughts but now bold is for text messages.<br/>Enjoy!&lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>You saw Steve walking towards the compound and caught up with him, limping hurriedly. "Steve," you started, and he picked you up again. Your anger woke you up a bit. You really wanted to confront Steve about his behavior. <em>It’s too much</em> <em>and I've had enough of it</em>. You got to the compound and he put you down. "Steve, what's up? You've been sulking the whole week, and now this," you gestured at his clenched jaw and muscles. "Tell me what's wrong."</p><p>"Nothing's wrong." You raised your brow at him, folding your arms on your chest. "Look, just leave it alone okay?" he sighed. "No, not okay!" you were really pissed at him. "I thought we were friends Steve, why would you not tell me what's going on with you?" you almost yelled but the look on his face made you calm yourself down. "Clearly something is bothering you. What is it?" you looked at him pleadingly. "I can't tell you," he said. After a few seconds, he added, "Maybe we're not as good friends as you thought we were."</p><p>You felt as if his words infiltrated your chest, making their way to your heart and smashing it to pieces. You wanted to cry, but your stubbornness prevented you from giving him the satisfaction. "Have it your way then, Captain." You said coldly, limping on your leg to the elevators. You hoped he would've said something, tried to stop you, show any sign that it was getting to him, but he didn't. You got in the elevator and turned around, but he was still standing with his back to you. That night you cried yourself to sleep, though if anyone asked you would say it was the strain of the mission. But you knew it wasn't. Even as you and Steve became closer friends, you couldn't stop wishing it was more than that, especially now that you knew him better. Now there was no chance of that ever happening – Steve probably resented you for risking the mission with your vulnerability, and you had to go and try to meddle with his personal affairs which couldn't have made his feelings for you better. <em>He probably hates me now</em>, you stifled another sob at the thought.</p><p>The next morning when you woke up, your face was still puffy and a little red, but it was better after you washed them and put on a little make-up. There was a knock at the door, and you opened it to find Jules on the other side, with a small breakfast in hand. "Morning sunshine," she said brightly. "Morning," you chuckled at her. "I brought you breakfast so you wouldn't need to come down. I saw Tony on my way, and he said to tell you you're officially excused from any and all missions until your leg gets better, and to give you his well wishes." 
"That's nice of him," you smiled, the contrast to Steve's behavior from yesterday clear in your mind. You wanted to talk to Jules about it, but first there was something else you needed to ask her. You both sat down, and you started eating the breakfast she brought you.</p><p>"So," you smiled at her, raising your eyebrow, "You and Bucky? Tell me everything!" Julia giggled happily, "There isn’t really that much to tell, I mean--" "Don't give me that crap! Are you dating the super-soldier of your dreams or no?" She laughed "Yes." You both grinned at each other and Jules continued. "You know I liked him ever since we got here, and-- don't give me that smug look!" "But you admitted it!" you said triumphantly, "I was right!"</p><p>"Yeah, whatever," Julia rolled her eyes. "Anyway, at first I thought Isabelle and him had a thing going on, with all the training together and stuff, but one day she caught me staring and confronted me about it. Turns out she's--"</p><p>"A lesbian," you finished her sentence. "Stop interrupting me!" Jules said indignantly, "I wasn't sure if you knew but great. So she told me and I was absolutely dying with embarrassment. But then she said something else." She stopped dramatically. "She told me she saw Bucky checking me out once." You laughed, "Jules, that was so anti-climactic."</p><p>"I know, but my brain kinda just jumped to conclusions from there, and even though it wasn't anything concrete I started flirting a little, you know, subtly."</p><p>"Oh, so that day I saw you sucking on a popsicle seductively was you flirting subtly?" you laughed, "glad that has an explanation now." "Shup up! I thought no one saw that," Julia blushed, "That was after we were already dating. And besides it was completely meant to be a joke. I mean, the fact that I later sucked--" "NO! No no no no! I don’t wanna hear that!" you covered your ears. "I was just gonna say 'something else' and leave the rest to you, but you did say to tell you everything," Jules said smugly. "Fine then, I take it back. Tell me everything but keep it pg. But you were in the middle of your story so continue!"</p><p>"Yeah, wonder who interrupted me," she said sarcastically. "We flirted back and forth for a week, but then he just asked me on a date." "Just like that?" you asked incredulously. "He did bring me flowers and was all gentlemanly about it," Jules smiled sheepishly, "But yeah. I asked him if it didn't break Avengers protocol or whatever, but he said there wasn't any rule specifically against it. We are adults, so even if it goes wrong, they trust us to be respectful about it. And now we've been dating for the last two weeks. We kept it a secret because we didn't want any criticism to hold us back, but so far so good, and we're happy." Jules wrapped up her story, beaming. "I'm so happy you got your dream man Jules," you smiled and hugged her.</p><p>"Speaking about dream men, what about Steve and you? Any secrets you wanna spill?" Jules nudged you. Your mind immediately went back to last night, and you couldn't keep the hurt look from your face. "What happened?" Jules asked, concerned. You told her the events of last night. At one point you started crying, but you didn’t care. "And now he probably hates me," you finished the story, starting to wipe the tears and ruined makeup from your face.</p><p>"Why would he sweetie? You did nothing wrong," said Julia sympathetically. "Honestly he was the jerk here. Do you want me to try and ask Bucky what's up with him?"</p><p>"Save the trouble," you said. "If he doesn't want to talk to me, he shouldn’t. I'll be fine." Jules hugged you silently.</p><p>Over the next couple of weeks, Steve and you didn't say a word to one another. Your wound had nearly completely healed, but you still couldn't train properly, and needed someone to watch you at all times, just in case. You saw him at breakfast one day. "Good morning," he said, and you didn't reply.</p><p>That night you felt like you wanted to punch something. You shot Jules a text asking if she could come to the training room with you. <strong>No can do. Bucky and I are on our one-month anniversary date &lt;3</strong>, she texted you. <strong>Have fun!</strong> You texted back, frustrated.</p><p><em>Screw it, the wound's almost healed. No one would be training at 8 pm</em>. You dressed and left your room to the training room at the end of the floor, where almost no one frequented, intending to punch the punching bag there and go back.</p><p>You entered the room and started punching, the anger and frustration from the last two weeks bubbling in you. You were so into it that you didn't notice when someone entered the room. Steve.</p><p>"What are you doing?" he asked sternly. You jumped, surprised to hear him next to you. "Punching," you said, and continued your assault on the punching bag. "Alone?" "Why, who would you have me punch?" you asked sarcastically. "Stop," he said and caught the punching bag, pulling it away from you. "You could hurt yourself, training alone. That's why you're not supposed to do it," he said quietly. "Why do you even care? It's not like we're friends or something," you turned to him, staring at him coldly. He didn't reply and you went to leave the room.</p><p>"Wait," he called after you. You didn't stop. "I'm sorry. Can you at least hear me out?" he tried again. You stopped in your place. <em>Thought you didn't wanna tell me anything</em>. The words were on the tip of your tongue, but you couldn't turn him away like that. You knew this had to end. You turned to him, walked back and sat on the floor. "Fine, here I am. What do you want?" he sat down next to you.</p><p>"To apologize. I know I've been pushing you away since the mission, and I'm sorry for that. But at the time I really felt like I couldn’t tell you, because you would hate me. But honestly, you hating me will be better than you ignoring me, so here we are. I know it sounds pretentious cause I've been a jerk, but these two weeks weren't great for me. I'm sorry. But I'm gonna tell you what I was avoiding telling you to make up for that. Would that be okay?" he raised his blue eyes to you. "Okay," you said, giving him permission to continue. You already forgave him in your heart, you did the moment he said I'm sorry for the first time, but you kept that information to yourself, wanting to know what he was hiding from you. "Ever since you got here, I've had… feelings, for you." His eyes were focused on the floor before him. You wanted to jump on him and kiss him at the very moment, but knew he needed to finish so you both stayed completely without resentment or doubts. "You're smart, funny, beautiful and badass, how could I not like you? But I knew you'd never have me, because I'm older and you're out of my league," you were tempted to laugh in his face because <em>he's Captain America for god's sake,</em> but you were stunned into silence by his sentiment. "And it was fine, you know? I thought it would go away. No one knew, not even Bucky. I couldn't bring myself to tell you because it would've ruined the team dynamic, and we need you here. But then you got your mission, and I couldn't stop myself from thinking about the thousands of things that could go wrong, the thousands of ways you could get hurt. That's why I wasn't as supportive as I should've been. You're wonderful, and my worries shouldn't stop you from kicking ass," he smiled, his gaze meeting yours at last. "And in the mission itself you got hurt, and it was my fault." You opened your mouth, but he stopped you. "It was. It was your first time on the field and I should be more preceptive to things like that," his gaze moved to your leg, who was now bandage-less. "And I was so mad at myself. I still am," he took a deep breath. "Then you asked me what was wrong and I couldn't tell you. How could I tell the most amazing woman on earth that I wanted her to be mine if I knew it would push her away?" his gaze returned to yours, charged and emotional. "So, I said nothing, and now here we are. If you don't want to talk to me again, I get it."</p><p>You sat in stunned silence. You couldn't believe your crush since forever, Captain America himself, who you thought you'd never meet, let alone date, liked you back. As you were digesting the information, he got up with a devastated look he tried to hide but to no avail, offering you his hand. Right now, you felt like your actions would speak better than your words could. You took his hand, and used the momentum to crash your lips into his.</p><p>It was fireworks. It was passionate. And it was everything you ever dreamed of. He responded quickly, pulling you into him and giving as good as he got. You practically melted into his touch. His tongue grazed your lips, and you let him in, your tongues battling for dominance. Your hands tangled in his soft hair, pulling him impossibly closer. </p><p>After a while you pulled away for air, stunned. You opened your eyes and found him staring at you in awe. "You're Captain America," you told him, "And half this country wants you. But more importantly, you're Steve Rogers," your gaze softened. "And you're the best, most amazing guy I know," you laughed breathlessly. "You know how they say it's always disappointing to meet your heroes? Well, it wasn't for me. Every day I spend with you I find out you are better than I thought yesterday, which doesn't even seem possible. Except these two weeks which were really shitty," you said amusedly. "But you apologized and I forgive you. And if you want me to be yours, all to have to do is ask," you smiled. He kissed you fervently one more time, leaving you breathless. "Will you do me the immense honor of being my girlfriend?"</p><p>"Yes, you dork," you beamed at him and kissed him again.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>You guys... we made it!! obviously this isn't the end of this fanfic, I have a lot more ideas and so we still have a lot to go. You're welcome to leave your own ideas in the comments as well!<br/>Hope you enjoyed and you're staying safe!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>You were all gearing up to "go beat the shit outta some gang members," as Isabelle delicately phrased it.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey lovely people! Are you ready for another mission?<br/>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"So," Jules started, "Have you and Steve… you know?" she waggled her eyebrows at you.</p><p>"No," you stated calmly. "Why the heck not? Isn't a week enough?" you laughed at her response. "Believe me, I thought so too at first. Steve wanted to take things slow and 'woo me properly', whatever that means," you giggled. "But I've found I don't really mind it. He wants to go on a date before, but I don't think that could really happen soon. The mission is in a week and we've gotta prep till then. Anyways, I enjoy his company nonetheless," you said airily.</p><p>"That's a mighty high horse you're riding on," Jules imitated your haughty speech, "but I tell you from experience there's something else you'd have a lot more fun riding," she winked at you and you threw the pillow at her. You were both in the common floor, you reading and her reviewing some documents, although evidently, she got tired of it and preferred gossiping. It has been a week since that night in the training room, and you couldn't have been happier. Whether it was a sweet good morning text or insistently carrying you around, even though your leg has healed enough for you to train properly and go on a mission, Steve always made you feel cherished.</p><p>You shook from your sweet reverie by the whole gang getting in the room, and by the gang you meant the newbies. Even though you all weren't really newbies anymore, now that you settled into your individual lives at the compound, you still hung out quite often.</p><p>"What's up guys?" Mike asked. A chorus of fines and greats was the response. "Great! I myself had a really productive day down at R&amp;D. We finally got that new formula to work out, and now Stark's new weapon should work. You're supposed to help make it, aren't you Oliver?" Oliver just hummed in response. The new Stark weapon was a secret project. No one really knew what it was but everyone trusted it'll be worth the wait. As for Oliver, he never quite got over his quiet tendencies even among the cheerful group. At first, they tried to bring him out of his shell, but now they just accepted it. They all complimented Mike and each one of them told the others about their day, which was pretty uneventful, except for Oliver of course, who kept up his broody silence.</p><p>The week went by quickly, with Steve and you being too busy to go on a "proper date", as you predicted. You made the best of your limited time anyways, stealing kisses and watching old movies together. As much as you teased Steve about being old, you couldn't help but admit many of the greatest movies have been made before your time. One night you were watching The Princess Bride, and you asked Steve how is this not a real date. "Because on a real date you go out of your house," he replied, "now hush, you're missing the good part."</p><p>"They're all the good parts," you huffed and cuddled into his side.</p><p>The day of the mission finally came. You were all gearing up to "go beat the shit outta some gang members," as Isabelle delicately phrased it. Since the previous mission was a bust, they got word of a new location from a reliable source, and intended to keep it a secret where they were going. "Last time they knew we were coming," Tony said in the briefing, "Which means either someone in here or someone out there knew and told them. Now, I'd rather have good faith in all of the people we work with, but that's a luxury we simply don't have. No one besides the people in this room right now should know about the details of this mission, am I clear?" he looked everyone in the eyes and continued. "Right now, our priority is to take them down, but we'll be looking into who told them later," he informed you all.</p><p>You were understandably nervous, but you still wanted to go, and no one made an attempt to stop you, not even Steve. You were going with the same people as before.</p><p>You managed to stay still on the Quinjet, and you flew speedily to your location – another warehouse. You broke in quietly, same as last time, but this time you were going to stay with the rest of the Avengers. You got further into the warehouse, which had mechanical sounds coming from it but not human voices. When you could finally see what was going on in the middle, you saw a sort of production line for what you assumed by the mechanical looking parts were guns. But as your eyes drifted across the line, you realized what they were making. Metal statues, hollow. You frowned. <em>Why would they need that?</em> At the end of the line, they stuffed white powder into in. <em>At least that makes sense</em>, you thought. You couldn’t see what the statues were of, but you could see it was a sitting man. <em>Buddha maybe?</em></p><p>You all split up to surround the man working on the statues, and you and Steve went together. Once you got closer, you could get a closer look at the men, who seemed to be in a daze, assembling the parts automatically. You noticed none of them had the fiery look in their eyes you had observed in the last mission. When you and Steve got in position you noticed a man you hadn't seen before. He was standing aside and observed the other men. He didn't see you yet, but when he watched the men there was a glint of victory in his eyes, but what threw you off the most was his smile. It was unsettling, because it was… <em>perfect</em>, you thought, <em>a perfect smile was never a good sign</em>.</p><p> You called Steve's attention to the man. "He's dangerous. Keep an eye on him."</p><p>"Ready to strike?" Tony asked in the comms. "Go."</p><p>Once the Avengers started shooting, the man ran. "Steve!" you called out. He understood you and went in the direction the man had gone in. The rest didn't break their dazed state and were easy to take down. When you were done, you got closer to the line and took a closer look at the statues. The face staring at you startled you. It was the man from before. "Tony!" you were breathing heavily, your hands clammed up, "Steve's outside! I think he got the man we were looking for."</p><p>You all rushed outside, and what you saw made you stop in your tracks. Steve was on the ground, his shield tossed away from him, his gaze hooded and dazed like the men inside. The man holding a gun to his head, and talking manically. "—and then the world will understand. They'll see how much power one man can have over them all. You all think you're so strong," his eyes shone angrily, "but I will prove you wrong. You have nothing on a god." He put the gun to Steve's head. Steve's eyes cleared and he shook his head as if waking up.</p><p>"Maybe," Steve said, "but you're not a god." He reached out his hand and the shield flew into it. He disarmed the man, laying him on the ground. You all rushed towards him.</p><p>"He spilled his entire evil plan," Steve stated. "He was gonna distribute the drugs to make people susceptible to his lies and make an army." Steve raised his brow, "but we stopped him in time." He gripped the man harder. "By the way, thanks for the new shield again Tony. Works great. I'll tell Thor about it."</p><p>"Great," Tony said, "Glad I can finally tell the people down at R&amp;D what 'the new Stark weapon' is." He took the man and gave him to the authorities. You realized what Thor and Tony were talking about that first dinner, but all you cared about right now was Steve.   </p><p>You rushed into his arms and gave him a crushing hug. "You okay?" he asked, his voice and gaze soft and warm. "Yeah, but really I should be asking you that! You took him down by yourself!" He looked down, smiling "I'm fine. He tried to drug me with whatever that was, but you know," he gestured to himself, "super-soldier. I do have to admit it's really strong, because it did affect me for a few minutes." His eyebrows furrowed.</p><p>"Whatever it was, you stopped it, and that's what matters." You exchanged smiles.</p><p>Back at the compound Jules, Bucky and the others greeted you all. Someone already filled them in about your success, so they were already waiting for you with smiles on their faces. "Glad you made it out okay this time," Jules hugged you. "Yeah, I am too," you laughed.</p><p>The next morning, you and the newbies were sitting in the common floor. Oliver wasn't there, but no one really felt his absence. Mike was in the middle of a story about how he and a cute girl from R&amp;D had a date last night when Jarvis spoke. "Hello. Your presence has been requested at the meeting room by Mr. Stark. And by you, it means all of you. " You all exchanged confused glances, but got up and went to the big meeting room on the second floor. Because it was used for all official Avengers meetings it was known simply as "the meeting room".</p><p>Tony had apparently called an Avengers meeting, since they all were already there. "We got the guy that set us up the first time, he stated bluntly. "Last night when the news we won reached the compound he tried to escape." There was an expectant silence.</p><p>"It was Oliver." You all frowned. Sure, neither of you really liked Oliver, but you never thought he was capable of doing something like this, of betraying the Avengers. You wrecked your mind for signs about his sinister intentions. When you thought about it, you really know much about the guy, not enough for living in the same building as him and hanging out with him for the last couple of months. The only thing you could think about was that he was quiet, but that didn't necessarily mean anything, except in this case he actually was hiding something. <em>It was actually pretty smart,</em> you realized, <em>since instead of inventing a story to potentially mess up he just… didn't invent anything</em>. Also, he did live in the building without any real need to – as a mechanic he didn't have to be here 24/7. Then again, he could've just wanted the housing opportunity. <em>But why did I never know anything else about him? Why did I never ask? </em>You beat yourself up. You always tried to know your co-workers and be nice to them, how is it that this time you failed to do it so miserably?</p><p>"I know it might be a little hard to digest," Tony continued after a few moments with no verbal response from them, "but at least we caught him and it turned out for the best. Don't blame yourselves, newbies," he added after seeing the solemn look on your faces. "He passed our security check. You couldn't have known." After another minute of silence, Tony realized no one has anything else to say. "Dismissed."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>you didn't think I forgot about these things from early charters, did you? if you forgot, and you don't understand somethings in this chapter, go back to chapters 3 and 4. Also, Julia's dirty jokes are very much my own lol<br/>Hope you enjoyed! leave a kudo or a comment?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"So, now that this whole thing is over, how about that date you promised me?" you said teasingly. "I seem to recall something about a real date that included 'leaving the house', which seems very exciting."</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey lovely people! This one is very much self-indulgent fluff &amp; smut. (If you don't like smut just consider the part where you reach your room the end of the chapter)<br/>The next one might take a little while, so I'm leaving you to enjoy this long one :)<br/>Enjoy date night!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Steve caught up with you when you all left the meeting room. "Hey," he said softly, "You okay?"</p><p>You put your head on his chest and he wrapped your arms around you. "I just don't get how I let that happen. Why did I not ask about him more?" Steve rubbed his hands on your back soothingly. "How could I have been so blind? This man was double-crossing the team and I was playing scrabble with him, not knowing a thing. I just-" you sighed, "I just wish I would've done better."</p><p>Steve lifted your head from his chest and looked at you, his brows furrowed gently. "You couldn't have possibly known if he passed the security check. These things are super thorough. You did the best you could," his gaze softened, "and that's enough."</p><p>You smiled at him and pecked his lips, not needing words to express your gratitude. "So, now that this whole thing is over, how about that date you promised me?" you said teasingly. "I seem to recall something about a real date that included 'leaving the house', which seems very exciting." Steve smiled. "How about tomorrow night?"</p><p>"Why not tonight?" you pouted, mirth shining in your eyes. "Because I need time to plan." You rolled your eyes. "You had two whole weeks to plan. But whatever," you said mock-annoyedly, "I guess tomorrow night must do." Steve laughed at your antics and gave you a sweet kiss.</p><p>You practically ran to Julie's room. You thankfully heard her and Bucky talking, which meant they weren't busy doing… other activities. You knocked on her door. "Come in!" you heard Jules call. You barged in, not even caring Bucky was there, "Steve and I are finally going on a date tomorrow!" you exclaimed with a huge smile on your face. "Oh my god! That's great!" Jules smiled as well. "Bucky, I'll talk to you later." Bucky tried to protest but Jules glared at him and he meekly left the room.</p><p>"Where is he taking you?" Jules asked once Bucky left the room. "I don't know yet, he'll probably keep it a surprise," you replied. "Well," Jules said, "it doesn't really matter as long as you get laid later," she smirked. "God Jules," you laughed, "sometimes I think you want me to have sex more than I do. Just in case, would you do me a favor and take Lola to your room tomorrow?"</p><p>"I just want what's best for you," she winked. "And of course I will. But seriously, I know how much you were looking forward to this date. You must be bursting with excitement!"</p><p>"I nearly am," you admitted, unable of keeping your smile off your face. You stayed in Julie's room for a while after that, having your girl talk and laughing until you cried at Jules' ridiculous jokes.</p><p>Tomorrow night couldn't come soon enough. You were antsy the entire day, your mission report taking a lot more time than it should.</p><p>Finally, tomorrow night came. Steve told you to be ready at 7, so you showered and got dressed. Steve refused to tell you where you were going, so you didn't really know what to wear. You ended up going with a simple, comfortable dress. Nothing too elaborate, but it showed off your curves very nicely.</p><p>At exactly 7 pm, you heard a knock at your door. You opened it and Steve was in front of you, looking extremely handsome in a navy polo shirt and black jeans. He looked at you in awe. "You look beautiful as always," he complimented and pulled his arm from behind his back revealing a small bouquet of red roses. It was so cheesy, and you couldn't help but beam at him. "You look great too." You took the bouquet from his hand and kissed his cheek. "I'll just put these in a vase and then we can go."  </p><p>After you put the flowers away, Steve took your hand and led you towards the elevators. "So, are you finally gonna tell me where we're going?"</p><p>"No. Be patient," he smiled at you.</p><p>You got to the Avengers garage, if you could call it that. It was a big underground parking lot, filled with cars that belonged to the residents of the compound. Some, like Tony, probably had more than one. Steve led the way to a black Audi. He opened the passenger door for you and got into the driver's seat. "Where are we going Steve?" you asked again, unable to contain yourself. "You'll see," he said with a mysterious air. "Come on!" you pouted, "Can you at least tell me what we're going to be doing? Cause I'm actually pretty hungry."</p><p>"Well, you're in luck," he smiled, "We're going to eat." You whooped, making him laugh heartily.</p><p>After a pretty short ride, you stopped at a little Italian restaurant on the side of the road. Steve quickly got out of the car to open your door for you, his hand extended for you to take. "Always the gentleman," you smiled and rolled your eyes at him as you took his hand. You liked being "treated like a lady", or "courted", or whatever old-fashioned thing it is Steve was doing. You had to admit, you felt properly wooed.</p><p>You entered the restaurant hand in hand. "Mr. Rogers, we were waiting for you," said the hostess at the entrance, and let you to a small, secluded niche at the back of the restaurant. There was a candle-lit table for two waiting for you. Steve thanked the hostess and she left you to your own devices, saying someone will take our orders in a few minutes.</p><p>"What do you think?" Steve asked, looking you softly. "I really like it," you said honestly, eyeing the restaurant. It was a pretty fancy spot, but because of its small size and dim lighting, it still achieved a cozy atmosphere. "I probably couldn't have picked a better restaurant myself," you voiced your thoughts to Steve. He beamed at you, clearly pleased with his choice. "Well, you haven't had the food here yet. It's delicious."</p><p>You looked at the menu, noticing the variety of delicious kinds of pasta, having a hard time deciding which one you wanted. A waitress went by your table, carrying a big dish of excellent-smelling pasta. "Steve, are all the dishes in here this big?" you showed the size of the plate you just saw. "Yeah," Steve said casually and your brows shot up. "Didn't you say you were hungry?" he smiled, amused at your reaction. "I am, just not That hungry. Do you mind if we share?"</p><p>"Not at all. What do you want?"</p><p>"Well, I don’t know. There are so many fancy things here, some of them I don't understand. You've eaten here before, what do you want?"</p><p>"Not to insult the fancy dishes, but the best thing in here is probably their spaghetti and meatballs."</p><p>"I know what it is, so that's good enough for me. Could you order? I'm just gonna go to the bathroom for a minute," you told Steve, who nodded at you.</p><p>You made your way across the restaurant to try and find the bathroom. One of the waitresses directed you there. You did your business and was halfway back at your table when you heard a familiar voice calling your name. "Hey! Is that you?"</p><p>You turned around and saw the medic who took care of you your first mission. "Hey!" you smiled and went to his table, where he was sitting with a girl that seemed a little older than you, but still beautiful. "How's your job going? Better than it was the night we met, I hope," he said cheekily. "Yeah, it's going very well. Actually, I didn't catch your name back then." You smiled. "It's Eric," he smiled back, "And this is my fiancée Ellie." She smiled at you in greeting. "I almost thought you were going to say Ariel," you chuckled. "I get that a lot," Eric said and you all laughed. "She's my Disney princess nonetheless." He took Ellie's hand. "It was nice seeing you again," you smiled at them. "Have a great evening!"</p><p>"You too," Eric said, "and try not to get into trouble again."</p><p>"Will do," you waved at them and went back to your table.</p><p>"There you are," Steve smiled, "I was starting to worry you ditched me," he said jokingly, but you caught the glimpse of relief in his eyes. "Never," you smiled reassuringly and took your seat. "Oh, you'd never guess who I just met here! Eric! He's the medic you took me away from on that first mission," you explained. "Nice guy," you continued, "was sitting here with his fiancée. I never did hear the explanation as to why you basically dragged me away from him that night," you said teasingly. To be honest, you didn't really know why Steve pulled you away, but you were willing to bet it was a tease-worthy reason. "What a nice coincidence," Steve ignored the last part of what you said, feigning indifference. "Come on Steve, aren’t you gonna tell me? Please?" you smiled. "You're nosy, you know that?" he said teasingly. "Fine, I surrender. I did it because I was jealous."</p><p>"Jealous?" you giggled, "of me and him? Steve, he's a medic who was bandaging my blood-filled leg. That's hardly an attractive scenario."</p><p>"I know," Steve sighed, defeated. "But you were laughing with him about something. Besides, you already know I was angry that night so I hardly could rationalize it like you just did," he said sheepishly. You blushed, remembering his romantic speech from that night in the training room. <em>You're wonderful, and my worries shouldn't stop you from kicking ass</em>, he told you. You smiled at him. "Yeah, guess you're right."</p><p>Your food arrived, a big hot bowl of pasta and meatballs. Steve and you dug in happily.</p><p>"Mmm, That's so good!" you exclaimed. "Told you so," Steve smiled. He had a little sauce in the corner of his mouth and his tongue slipped out to clean it. You swallowed your spaghetti. <em>This man is unbelievable</em>. Who gave him the right to be so goofy and hot at the same time? <em>And he's mine</em>, your brain supplied.</p><p>You went on eating in relative silence, except for the occasional sound of slurping. At one point you got the end of a really long spaghetti in your mouth. You continued eating it as you looked up at Steve to show him how absurdly long the pasta was. He looked up at the same time, realizing the other end of the spaghetti was in his mouth. You laughed with your mouth still around the pasta. Eventually, your heads came closer together, and your lips touched as you finished the pasta. You laughed wholeheartedly now, holding Steve's hand from across the table. "I can't believe we just had a Disney moment in real life." Steve looked at you quizzically. "Don't tell me you don't know what Disney is!"</p><p>"I know what it is!" Steve laughed, "I just don’t understand what movie that's from."</p><p>"I'm totally making you watch that soon. It's Lady and the Tramp, it’s one of my favorites. It has dogs, you'll love it," you gave Steve no room to argue and he laughed.</p><p>Your dinner went by like that, talking about Disney movies and other things. When you were waiting for your bill Steve had a far-off look on his face all of a sudden. "You okay there?" you asked, a concerned look on your face. "Yeah, I'm fine." Steve shook from his reverie. "It's just… my mom used to make 'spaghetti and meatballs' on special occasions. Obviously, it wasn't as good as this one, because she didn’t have the ingredients to make it. The spaghetti was pieces of bread she cut in stripes." He reminisced with a smile, "but she put her love into it, so it was the best thing ever."</p><p>"She sounds great," you smiled at him. "She was. The greatest." He smiled sadly. You squeezed his hand in yours, trying to comfort him. You knew he lost his mom before he even went in the ice, but these things never really heal.</p><p>You got your bill and left the restaurant, waving at Eric as you left. If he was surprised to see you with Captain America, he showed no sign of it, and waved back at you.</p><p>You got back into the car. "Ready for the next thing?" Steve asked. "Sure," you said. You didn't realize there was going to be a next thing, but you weren't complaining.</p><p>Steve drove you both to a mall close by. You sent him a questioning look but he just smiled at you and led the way into an arcade that was located inside the mall. It seemed closed, but a staff member was inside and opened the door for you.</p><p>"Didn't want anyone interrupting us," Steve said, making your way to the token machine and getting some tokens. "What do you wanna do first?" he smiled at you.</p><p>You spent the next couple of hours playing most of the machines, and unsurprisingly Steve won almost every time. <em>Damn his reflexes, </em>you thought as he won yet another match of table hockey. But you destroyed him in the Dance Dance Revolution machine.</p><p>"Not fair!" he said as you executed the moves perfectly, "You know this game!"</p><p>"I knew all of the others as well," you laughed, your answer satisfying him.</p><p>You won a small teddy bear as a prize and beamed at Steve. You named him Pooh. "I understood that reference!" he exclaimed and you both laughed.</p><p>At last, you thanked the employee that stayed to close after you and made your way to the car, Pooh in one of your hands, the other holding Steve's.</p><p>The drive back to the compound was filled with comfortable silence, as you both reflected about the wonderful evening. You reached the compound and Steve escorted you to your room like the perfect gentleman he's been the entire time. "Thank you," you told Steve when you reached your door. "I had a lot of fun tonight."</p><p>"Me too," he said, kissing you softly, "Goodnight."</p><p>"Oh no, you're not goodnight-ing me!" you pulled him back by his shirt. "You can't keep a girl waiting that long Steve-" you came closer to him and circled your arms around his broad shoulders, whispering in his ear, "-that wouldn't be very gentlemanly of you. And we both know how much you like being a gentleman." You smirked at him, pulling him in for a sensual kiss.</p><p>After a few seconds Steve caught on, grabbing your hips. The kiss turned hungry and almost desperate and you moaned into Steve's mouth. You pulled apart from him to unlock your door, you and Steve stumbling in, taking your shoes off and locking the door hastily. Steve caught your lips again in a heated kiss as you guided both of you to the bed. Your hands tangled in Steve's hair as you landed on the bed, Steve in top of you, placing open-mouthed kisses on your jaw and neck. Your hands reached the small of his back, bringing his shirt up to his head and tugging it off his body. Your mouth went dry at the sight of his chiseled chest. You placed wet kisses along his collarbone as he tugged at your dress, helping him get it off of your body.</p><p>"God, you're beautiful," he said in a hoarse voice that made you wet instantly. He kissed your collarbones, making his way to suck the tops of your breasts, probably leaving a mark, as he unhooked your bra and threw it away. He took one of your nipples in his mouth, teasing it with his tongue as he did the same with his hand on the other. "Steve," you moaned at the sensation and ran your hands on his chest, reaching to undo his belt and push his pants off his legs. When his pants were off you felt his erection against your leg as he ground against you involuntarily.</p><p>You slipped your hand past the elastic of his boxers, gripping him and moving your hand along his length. He breathed heavily. "tease," he murmured in your ear, kissing your neck as he took off the rest of your underwear, and his own, leaving you both naked. His mouth found yours once more in a heated kiss as his hand traveled down and teased your clit. You moaned into his mouth. "I need you," you whispered in his ear as you kissed down his neck.</p><p>"Wait-" he started, but you reached over to your bedside drawer and pulled out a condom before he finished the sentence. He raised his brow at you, and you rolled your eyes at him. "Shut up and fuck me," you kissed his collarbone. "I never said anything," Steve chuckled, lining himself up with your entrance, "but as you wish," he whispered as he pushed his length into you.</p><p>You gasped at the sensation, nails digging into his toned back. He filled you up completely, groaning. "You feel so good around me baby," he whispered huskily and bit down in your collarbone. You took a couple of seconds adjusting to him stretching your walls and then rolled your hips against his.</p><p>You moved in sync, grinding against each other. You wrapped your legs around him, allowing him to go deeper, hitting your g-spot again and again. You were so close when Steve's thrusts started faltering, and he brought his hand to your clit one more, bringing you over the edge with him. Your walls contracted around him as you felt waves of pleasure coursing through your body. As you both got down from your high, he pulled out of you and you almost whined at the loss. You knew you'd have a hard time walking tomorrow, but right now you couldn’t help but wanting him inside you. He came back to bed after he disposed the condom and wrapped his arm behind you, moving your hair from your neck and kissing your shoulder sweetly.</p><p>"That was…" he trailed off. "Amazing," you finished his sentence and he chuckled. "Exactly."<br/>
"If we're in agreement, then there's something I wouldn't mind," you said seductively and ground your butt into him. He groaned behind you and bit your neck. The night was still young, and you were so ready for round two.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you liked it! please leave me kudos and comments cause they truly make my day! tell me what you wanna see next! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Tony finally spoke, getting up from his chair and pulling up a presentation. "We have a little ummm… 'girl power' mission for you, if you will."</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey lovely people!<br/>I'm so incredibly sorry for not posting these last couple of weeks!!! It's been a bit of a tough time personally, but I'm back and I hope you're all doing well &lt;3<br/>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>You woke up when the bright morning light hit your eyes. You felt a pair of warm arms circling you from behind and remembered last night's events with a smile. You felt Steve's deep breaths from behind you, still asleep. You got up, careful not to wake him, and went in the shower. There was a dull ache between your legs, but you accepted your fate graciously. <em>Super-soldier dick does not disappoint</em>.</p><p>You got out of the shower, drying quickly and putting on a shirt and panties. You went to wake up Steve.</p><p>You got back on the bed and nudged Steve, kissing his neck gently. He groaned softly and opened his eyes. "Hey," you said softly. "Morning," he replied in a deep sleepy voice, sneaking his arms around you and embracing you against his chest. "You wanna go down for some breakfast?" you asked him. He shook his head and buried his head in your neck.</p><p>You stayed like this for a little while, laying in each other's arms. Eventually, your stomach rumbled and you both laughed. "Okay, let me just shower and we'll go eat," Steve said, chuckling at you.</p><p>He took a quick shower, putting on his clothes from yesterday while you got dressed. You went down to the kitchen, the pain between your legs prominent when you walked. You winced, trying to hide it from Steve but he saw you. "Sorry," he said, scratching the back of his neck. "It's okay, it was worth it," you winked at him, smiling at his cuteness. <em>Can't believe that's the guy who fucked me into the mattress like 8 hours ago.</em></p><p>"Piggyback?" he asked simply. "Can't say no to that," you laughed and jumped on his back, wrapping your legs around him tightly.</p><p>When you got to the common floor you saw Jules and Bucky sitting on the sofas there, talking quietly. Bucky's back was turned to you, but Jules saw you and raised her brow, smiling smugly. You stuck your tongue out at her, smiling and resting your head on Steve's neck. Steve put you down in the kitchen, where you both got yourselves breakfast. You went out at sat down next to Jules and Bucky. You had breakfast with them, talking about your last missions and life in general.</p><p>You said goodbye to Steve, knowing you both need to go about your day, and Bucky left as well. Jules sent you a meaningful look, "Well?"</p><p>"What?" you feigned innocence. "You know what! Did you sleep with Steve Rogers?"</p><p>"Lower your voice!" you chastised her and laughed. "But yeah, I did." You smiled smugly. Jules raised her brow expectantly. "And?"</p><p>"It was really good." You giggled. "Well, I hate to say it, but I told you so," Jules said, giggling with you. You rolled your eyes at her. "But honestly, the date was just as fun." You told Jules the events of last night.</p><p>"I'm so happy for you," Jules hugged you. "But you really have gotta admit," she smiled and you knew exactly what she was going to say. "Super-soldier dick does not disappoint," you said simultaneously, laughing.</p><p>Over the next month, you and Steve went on a lot more missions together, taking down bad guys and looking good doing it. Most nights, either you slept in Steve's room or he in yours. The best nights you've ever had were spent in Steve's arms, whether it's the steamy sex or just cuddles and deep conversations, your love for Steve grew more and more every day. You two have never said that to each other yet, but it was evident in everything you did. You just… waited for the right moment. Neither of you wanted to screw this up.   </p><p>One morning you were sleeping alone in your room, a rare occurrence these days, and woke up to Jarvis' voice. "Good morning." <em>Considerably less nice than yesterday</em>, you huffed, remembering waking up to Steve's kisses, that escalated to, ahem, other things. "What?" you asked, annoyed at the abrupt wake-up call. "Your presence has been requested in the meeting room in 30 minutes."</p><p>"Thank you, Jarvis." You got up to get ready, curious as to why you were called for a meeting so soon.</p><p>You entered the meeting room about five minutes before the meeting was supposed to start according to Jarvis, your cup in your hand because you didn't want to be late. When you entered, you saw Natasha and Tony were already there and took a seat next to them. You bid each other good morning and sat in silence while Isabelle and Scarlet Witch - Wanda, came in and sat next to you.</p><p>"Okay, now that you're all here we can start," Tony finally spoke, getting up from his chair and pulling up a presentation. "We have a little ummm… 'girl power' mission for you, if you will." He pressed a button and the picture of a short bald man, with a twisted smile smeared across his face. The picture was taken in a very low light, making it hard to see the man clearly, yet you had already created a perfect picture of him in your head, and it wasn't a pretty one.</p><p>"Turner Sweeney," Tony continued. "night club owner, weapon smuggler, human scumbag. He's been using his club as a cover to make deals with some pretty dangerous people, and he's beginning to gain some serious traction lately. That's where you girls come in." He stopped, sipping his coffee then continued. "We got word that he'll be making a bit of a yard sale in two weeks. Inviting most of the powerful people in the area to buy his guns. That kind of supply is going to make the streets impossible to walk in. So, in 12 days you all are going to infiltrate the club as dancers, waitresses, guests, whatever. Each one from her own position needs to try and find Sweeny, and make sure there's enough evidence to arrest him. Clear?" We all nodded. "Collect your files. Good luck." Tony dismissed the meeting and left the room. We all stayed in the meeting room, reading our files silently.</p><p>"So," Nat spoke first, "What role did you get?" she smiled. "I'm dancing, apparently."</p><p>"Waitress," Wanda answered.</p><p>"Club-goer" Isabelle smiled.</p><p>"I'm dancing too," you smiled at Nat. "Guess they wanted more people behind the scenes."</p><p>"Yeah. I suggest we pair up- Wanda and Isabelle, you're ground team. See if you can get any info that can help us, or a way to get to Sweeny." They both nodded at Nat.</p><p>"And we can have a good vantage point of the club," you agreed with Nat. "Try and get to him from behind the scenes."</p><p>"Let's do this," Wanda smiled and you all left the meeting room to prepare for the mission.</p><p>You spent the next week and a half getting ready for the mission. Natasha and you felt ridiculous in "dance class", as you called it, but you knew it was for the sake of the mission.</p><p>You knew Steve was a little nervous about you going on your own, so you spared him the details of the mission, simply telling him you were going to bust an arms deal. You knew if he wanted to, he could just see what the mission was himself, but he didn’t really trust himself to let you out on the field on your own, so he didn't read the files.</p><p>Finally, the day of the mission came by. You all geared up and took the Quinjet to the city, where you switched into your disguise clothes and took a cab to the club.</p><p>When you arrived, you saw the letters shining in neon; Amnesia. You chuckled as you entered the seemingly typical nightclub. You were alert, ready for anything – after you failed to identify the risk Oliver possessed, you were determined to not let anything else get past you.</p><p>You had the urge to scrunch up your nose at the overpowering smell of sweat coming from the dancing crowd, feeling sorry for Wanda and Isabelle who split up from you and went to their respective positions amongst them. You and Nat went to a door in the side of the room.</p><p>You got into the hallway, faking casual chatter as you got into the dressing room. You observed everyone warily, but they all seemed innocent enough, getting ready to put on a show. You and Natasha got dressed finding places to discreetly stash knives and a gun.</p><p>You listened to the chatter around the room. Seems the dancers either didn't know or didn't care about the upcoming weapons sale; they were talking about mundane things, asking each other for a makeup product or another.</p><p>The talking began to die down, reduced to a soft murmur. You averted your gaze from the shoes you were putting on to find a large man coming your way, the cause of the quieting down in the room.</p><p>"Five minutes," he announced to the room, then completed his way over to you. "Boss likes to look at the new ones," he said curtly. "You two, come."</p><p>You and Natasha looked at each other briefly and followed. This could be your chance. You brushed your hair away from your face, turning on the mic in your earring which would allow to record the audio of whatever was going to happen.</p><p>The man led you through some corridors filled with closed doors, and you were getting closer to an open one.</p><p>"…two days, yes," you heard from inside the room. "In advance? That's impossible, buddy, you'd have to come here yourself if you want the best products in town."</p><p>You guessed it was a phone call. You wished you could hear the other side of it because that wasn't enough evidence. You stood in the entrance to the room, the man with you cleared his throat. In the room, you saw Turner Sweeney, as slimy as ever, sitting on a leather couch and talking on the phone. When he saw you, he quickly muttered, "Yeah, best in town. Listen, I gotta go, but you should come, I promise you it's gonna be worth it." He hung up the phone, turning his attention to you and Natasha, fake smiling to the best of your abilities. You contemplated trying to steal his phone, but <em>What are the chances he records his calls? Low to zero. Messages, on the other hand, might be useful. Jury's still out.</em></p><p>Sweeney smiled at you, unabashedly eyeing you up and down. His gaze made you want to take a shower to wash it off of yourself, and you fought down a shudder.</p><p>"Hello, ladies," he drawled, "Lovely to meet you." He seemed to be looking down at your boobs when he said the last part, and you released a breath through your nose as you fought to keep smiling calmly and seductively. "I just like to, well, get to know my new recruits," he winked at patted his lap. "Come here," he smiled what you were sure he thought was a seductive smile, but looked more like a twisted grimace. You and Nat made your way to him, her sitting down on his lap and you beside him, playing the part and resting your hand on his shoulder.</p><p>"So, what do you wanna know?" you asked sweetly. He pseudo-contemplated it, then asked, "Are you gonna make me some money tonight?" You and Natasha nodded. "Well, I know you enough already!" he said triumphantly, "Is there something you'd like to ask?"</p><p>
  <em>Who rejected you so badly you need attention from random women? </em>
</p><p>But this was your chance and you couldn't blow it. You saw Natasha's hand traveling across Sweeney's hand, clearly reaching for the phone. So, you decided to go a little off-script to buy her some time.</p><p>"Actually," you looked at him bashfully through your lashes, "my boyfriend asked if there's anything I could do to get him an entrance Friday night. Anything at all, really," you said in a coquettish tone, shrugging your shoulders in a deliberate manner. Sweeney eyed you up and down, raising his brow. "Well, I'm sure something can be arranged, but you can go now," he said, the last part directed at Natasha who had expertly drawn his phone from his pocket. "Bye," she smiled, hiding the phone and leaving.</p><p>"So, anything at all huh?" Sweeney smiled predatorily at you. You nodded and bit your lip shyly. You knew stroking his ego and acting submissively can get you a long way with guys like him. On the other hand, you knew exactly what he wanted, and you definitely were not gonna give it to him, so you needed to not look too excited. "Well, just tell me the name and number of your boyfriend then, and I can call him and talk to him right now," he smiled. <em>Typical, thinking the guy owns the woman. </em></p><p>He reached into his pocket, as you knew he inevitably will. "Well, his name is Sebastian," you started improvising. "Hang on a second, sweetheart." He searched his pockets rapidly.</p><p>Now, you can say a lot of things about Turner Sweeney, most of them are bad, but when it comes to his own safety, he's not dumb. "That bitch took my phone!" he arrived at the unfortunately true conclusion. You gasped, feigning shock. "Is this a bad time? Maybe I could--"</p><p>"Go dance," he cut you off, leaving the room and gesturing to the bodyguard next to the door to come with him. You knew he would be after Nat, but she can take care of herself.</p><p>Meanwhile, you were left in Sweeney's private room with nothing but one bodyguard between you and the damning documents that are probably in here. You got up and timidly walked up to the man. "Should I expect him back soon-" you reached for your gun- "or should I--" you hit his head with the handle of the gun, knocking him out cold.</p><p>You mentally cheered for yourself as you quickly ran to look through the drawers in the room. You hoped both you and Nat had enough time.</p><p>You rummaged through useless club paperwork and <em>he was probably committing fraud</em> but that's not what you were worried about right now. In a closet, you found a bunch of expensive-looking wines and a safe – <em>bingo</em>. You wrecked your head for all the paperwork you had read about Sweeney, remembering his birth year and trying that. It didn't work, neither did his birthday. It couldn't be a loved one's birthday, since he had none of those, and he didn’t look sophisticated enough to pick and remember a random number. You were grasping at straws, but you had nothing to lose, so you entered the code- 6969.</p><p>A green light blinked and the safe opened. <em>People can be really predictable</em>.</p><p>You glanced at the paperwork, seeing it detailed several illegal arms deals that can put Sweeney away. You gathered it, running past the knocked-out bodyguard, navigating your way in the hallways and into the club, where Nat, Wanda, and Isabelle were fighting the bodyguards. Several people were filming the scene, and Sweeney was shouting at his bodyguards. "They're a bunch of chicks! Take them down already!"</p><p>You knew the situation needed to be diffused, and quickly. You started clapping.</p><p>"What a performance! Ladies and gentlemen, you did some excellent stunt work. Let's give it up for them!" you continued clapping and the confused crowd gratefully excepted your narrative and started clapping along. "We thought tonight's show could have a little more pazzaz," you smiled and go closer to Sweeney. You put your hand on his back. "You're gonna come with me quietly. No fuss," you whispered to him as the club-goers cheered. "Thank you! Have a great time!" you said to the crowd, leading Sweeney outside while Nat, Isabelle, and Wanda take advantage of the guards' confusion and follow you. Outside, you delivered Sweeney to the cops who were waiting, along with testimony and very compelling evidence from all of you that would put him behind bars for good.  </p><p>Back at the compound, everyone congratulated you on your successful mission. Apparently, someone live-streamed the fight, so they had an idea of how it ended. After saying hi to everyone you practically ran to Steve's room. He was the only one not there, having "gone to sleep" and asked not to be interrupted.</p><p>Predictably, he wasn't in his room. You made your way to the training rooms. When you didn’t find him reliving his stress there, you started to get worried. You wondered <em>where on earth could he be, </em>when you remembered the training room on the end of the floor, the one that was secluded. <em>The one where Steve asked you to be his girlfriend</em>. You smiled softly and made your way there.  </p><p>Looking in, you saw Steve, punching a punching bag with all the power he had, which means it was close to breaking down. "Hey," you greeted, shaking him out of his reverie.</p><p>His head snapped in your direction, and once he saw you the tension visibly went out of his shoulders. He smiled a relieved smile as you walked towards him, smiling brightly. You sat down on the floor, your back, still sweaty from the mission to Steve's chest, sweaty from the workout, but you both didn't care. You told Steve about the mission and he peppered your neck with kisses. Even though you didn't see his face you knew he was listening, because every time you talked about Sweeney's disgustful-ness you felt him tense up behind you.</p><p>You finished your story. "It went really well. I'm glad I could help bring such a man to justice."</p><p>"<strong><em>Help</em></strong> bring him to justice? <strong><em>You</em></strong> brought him to justice!" Steve said and you turned to face him, smiling timidly but genuinely, for the first time tonight. "You were amazing on the field," Steve continued, "and you're amazing off of it too." His hand went up to caress your cheek and he kissed you softly. You parted, your foreheads still touching.</p><p>"I'm happy you're back alright," Steve stated, and then, in a quieter voice, as if he was telling you a secret, he said, "and I couldn't be happier you came back to <strong><em>me</em></strong>." His eyes went up to meet yours. "I love you."</p><p>You smiled brightly at him, and your heart swelled at the sight of his eyes. They were filled with so much love and affection, and you were sure yours looked about the same. "I love you too, Steve. So much."</p><p>Your mouths touched in the tentative dance you both knew so well already, but this time it seemed like it was new, it had a new meaning. Every fiber in your body seemed to scream - I love you, I love you, I love you- the words, the feeling, coursing through your body. And in return, Steve shouted it as well; silently, but your heart heard.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you enjoyed! Sadly, this is the last chapter, but I still have an epilogue planned that will come out as soon as possible so keep an eye out for that! If I want to keep playing with this au a little more I might post some one-shots in this universe, but no promises ;)<br/>Please leave a kudo or a comment, I love getting them so much &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>You and Julie sang in sync into the microphones in your hands. Well, maybe screamed would be a better word, but the guys didn't seem to care.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey lovely people! I am so frustrated for taking like 3 weeks to upload this last one, but it was just hard to say goodbye to it I guess. Thank you so much to everyone who read, kudoed or commented - going through this journey with you was amazing! Enjoy &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>"Where have all the good men gone</strong>
  <br/>
  <strong>And where are all the gods?</strong>
  <br/>
  <strong>Where's the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds?</strong>
  <br/>
  <strong>Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?</strong>
  <br/>
  <strong>Late at night I toss and I turn</strong>
  <br/>
  <strong>And I dream of what I need!"</strong>
</p>
<p>You and Julie sang in sync into the microphones in your hands. Well, maybe screamed would be a better word, but the guys didn't seem to care. Steve and Bucky were sitting on the couch, Bucky with a phone in his hand filming you while Steve simply laughed heartily as you and Jules sang.</p>
<p>You were in the compound's karaoke room, because apparently Tony Stark thinks of literally everything when he plans a building like the Avengers compound. You were thrilled when you found this place, showing it to Julia. Together, you convinced the boys to come with you on a double date to karaoke. Well, it was more like the two of you singing and them laughing and filming you, but you were having a great time.</p>
<p>
  <strong>"I need a hero</strong>
  <br/>
  <strong>I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night</strong>
  <br/>
  <strong>He's gotta be strong</strong>
  <br/>
  <strong>And he's gotta be fast</strong>
  <br/>
  <strong>And he's gotta be fresh from the fight"</strong>
</p>
<p>You tossed your hair while you sang, gesturing theatrically with your body as Jules did the same next to you.</p>
<p>
  <strong>"I need a hero</strong>
  <br/>
  <strong>I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light</strong>
  <br/>
  <strong>He's gotta be sure</strong>
  <br/>
  <strong>And it's gotta be soon</strong>
  <br/>
  <strong>And he's gotta be larger than life!"</strong>
</p>
<p>You looked into Steve's eyes as you sang the cheesy song, smiling widely at him. His eyes twinkled, head tossed back in laughter, and his look reflected how you felt - perfectly happy.</p>
<p>Steve and you were going stronger than ever, and so were Bucky and Jules. After a year of dating, Bucky proposed to Julia. You looked over at her, the ring sparkling on her hand that clutched the microphone. She looked so free. Julie often reminded you of a lioness in the way she carried herself, her proud and cheeky personality shining through in her stunning smile. You were glad she finally found her lion. Bucky was filming with a smile on his lips. Around Julia, his laugh was getting easier and easier as time went on, and you were glad to see them make each other happy like this.</p>
<p>Steve was watching you and laughing so hard he looked like he was going to fall out of his seat. You winked at him as you continued your song and he smiled and shook his head playfully at your antics. You felt your love for him shining in your heart, so bright you could burst. You never wasted a chance to express your love to one another. Whether it was words – when you woke up, when you went to sleep, when you were going or returning from a mission or anything in between – or acts, Steve always made you feel loved. Little notes saying "went to train, be back soon, xo" were a common occurrence with you two, and so were hugs, kisses and cuddles. Even as a year of your relationship was close by, you couldn't get enough of each other, and you wouldn't have it any other way. Knowing Steve was a great privilege – you don’t often come by a person who's so smart, kind, funny, and emotionally supportive, and also is Captain America. But loving Steve was a gift you didn’t know if you deserved, but were thankful for every waking moment. Loving Steve was like eating ice cream in the summer, a cozy blanket when it's raining outside, and petting a cute dog all at once. Steve was your safe place, your hero really. Not a day went by that you didn't cherish him in, and the same was the other way around. You fit like two puzzle pieces finally coming together. If a year ago someone would have told you that you were going to date Captain America, you would've laughed in their face. But you were, and there was nothing that could've made you happier.</p>
<p>You finished the song and collapsed dramatically onto Steve's lap, laughing. "Can you get me some water please?" you pouted playfully. "That was a hell of a performance, so yeah, sure." he chuckled. "My hero," you winked as he went away to grab a glass of water, laughing.</p>
<p>Later that evening, you were all sitting in an Italian restaurant, the very same one where you and Steve had your first date. You were all laughing and talking over each other, enjoying the excellent food and even better company. Your dessert arrived, an absolutely delicious looking tiramisu. You were about to dig in before you noticed a sparkle between the cream layers. You prodded it with your spoon, taking in out and discovering a silver diamond ring. You gasped, turning to Steve, who was looking just as puzzled as you felt. You raised your brow at him, and he quickly shook his head. You felt a pang of disappointment. You and Steve never really talked about getting married, but based on Jules and Bucky's engagement, you anticipated a ring coming to you very soon. Apparently, Steve didn't share the sentiment, you noticed as you took in his seemingly mortified face. You swallowed your disappointment and smiled as you called for your waitress.</p>
<p>"There was a ring in the tiramisu that's not ours," you explained to the embarrassed waitress.</p>
<p>"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! We must have mixed it up with table 4, the poor guy must not understand what's happening. Maybe he thinks his boyfriend swallowed the ring," she chuckled nervously. "Anyway, I'm very sorry and we'll bring you another one shortly, on the house." She smiled at all of you and took away the tiramisu and the ring. Jules, Bucky and Steve were quick to laugh it off, returning to their conversation, but you just couldn't focus. The ring sent you down a very immersive train of thought, about you and Steve and how he might not want to get married, or he doesn’t want to get married to <em>you</em>.</p>
<p>You remained quiet throughout the ride back to the compound, contemplating your insecurities. No one seemed to notice.</p>
<p>You got back to the compound and jumped out of the car. "Good night guys, I think I'm just gonna go to bed, I'm pretty tired." You tried to smile but it came out more like a grimace.</p>
<p>"But we wanted to watch a movie," Jules complained. Bucky's arm was wrapped around her, a united front.</p>
<p>"Well you guys should go ahead, I'm gonna go as well," Steve said, taking your hand in his. He smiled and you returned his smile. Your sadness started to fade into the background, as if telling you that you could deal with it tomorrow. But right now, with Steve's hand holding yours, you felt your heart swell with love. Jules and Bucky were already ahead, but you and Steve took your time, walking slowly into the building and the elevator.</p>
<p>When you got to your floor, you saw a trail of rose petals from the elevator door. You sent Steve a quizzical look, but he shrugged and smiled, squeezing your hand in his. You followed the trail all the way to your room, smiling at Steve before opening the door.</p>
<p>In front of you was a sea of flowers, and you run to smell them, leaving Steve's hand. You noticed Jules and Bucky were also there, smiling widely. You sent them a puzzled smile before you turned around to thank Steve for the flowers, and you found him on one knee, holding a little black box in his hands. <em>Oh</em>.</p>
<p>You gasped, your eyes immediately welling up. "Steve?" you asked, a small smile forming on your lips. For the entire night, you've been thinking about how Steve's eyebrows furrowed when he saw the ring. You thought it was because he'd never thought about getting you a ring, that he hadn’t wanted to. Apparently, it was just because some random mix-up beat him to it.</p>
<p>Steve looked up at you, his eyes shining as well. "Hey sweetheart," he chuckled in response to your question. "You know, before I caught you that day when you jumped from the elevator, I was thinking about how the new recruits are gonna be, how are they gonna find their place around here. And then you landed right into my arms, and you were so pretty I couldn't help but think your place should be there, in my arms, all of the time." He was beaming up at you now.</p>
<p>"Smooth," you couldn't help but comment as you beamed back down at him.</p>
<p>"Yeah," he chuckled. "And then I got to see just pretty wasn't enough to describe you. You are overwhelmingly beautiful, inside and out. You're strong, and smart, and funny. And I thought I could never deserve having you in my arms. You were a shining star and all I could do was watch from the earth as you soared through the sky." Tears started to fall from your eyes as you smiled at him. "But then I jumped; I jumped and you were willing to catch me. Maybe not to be in my arms the entire time, but to hold my hand. And I have never been luckier. I love you," he took a deep breath, "more than words can describe. So, will you make me the luckiest guy in the universe once more and hold my hand forever?" he popped open the box, revealing the most beautiful ring you had ever seen, "Will you marry me?"</p>
<p>You nodded your head so quickly you thought your neck would snap, but fortunately, it didn't. You knelt down next to Steve, wrapping your hands around his neck. "Yes, yes, a thousand times yes," you smiled, accentuating each yes with a kiss – to his cheeks, to his nose.</p>
<p>He grinned at you and drew away, taking the ring out of the box and slipping it onto your finger. "I love you, Steve," you touched your forehead to his. "I love you too," he replied, kissing you gently yet passionately, making you feel so loved like only he knew how to. You put your hands on his cheeks, feeling the ring on your finger prominently. You smiled into the kiss, breaking apart but staying close to each other, breathing the same air.</p>
<p>"Congratulations!" you heard a shout from across the room. You turned your head, smiling. You were so focused on Steve's speech you had forgotten Jules and Bucky were still there. Jules' eyes were shining with unshed tears and Bucky was smiling from ear to ear, their phones in their hands. Bucky came forward to clap Steve on the shoulder and embrace him tightly before hugging you, whispering in your ear, "he'd get you the moon if you told him to."</p>
<p>"He's my sun," you whispered back. You pulled apart, smiling at each other, understanding you both love this punk more than anything. Jules hugged Steve, whispering something you couldn't make out into his ear, and then came to you, wrapping her arms around you in a crushing bear hug. "I'm so happy for you," she whispered, her voice wavering with emotion. "Thank you," you whispered back.</p>
<p>"Oh, the pictures!" Jules exclaimed before she reached for her phone. She opened it to reveal a stunning picture of you and Steve; your hands cupping his face, foreheads touching. "Jules," you smiled and but your lip, getting emotional over the beautiful moment she captured perfectly.</p>
<p>Soon Bucky and Jules left you to your own to celebrate, and you did, your night filled with declarations of love and delicate touches.</p>
<p>And years later, the picture was hanging off the wall of Steve's and your house, adorned in a golden frame. You were lucky enough to marry your hero, and love him more and more every day for the rest of your lives.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This was my first fanfic, so thanks again to everyone who supported it! Maybe I'll update more works here, but I'm more active on my Tumblr - https://fangirlovestuff.tumblr.com/<br/>hope you enjoyed &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If you enjoyed, maybe kudo or comment?<br/>I'll try and have the next chapter up pretty soon, but no guarantees!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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